Waltz of the Damned
by seasidehearts
Summary: With their families on the brink of battle, their romance forbidden in both kingdoms, and the fact that they would both soon be married off to strangers, Prince Sora and Princess Kairi have absolutely nothing more to do than to dream. SxK
1. A Lover's Tale

**A new chaptered story, whoo! I got the idea of this fic while I was reading Romeo & Juliet for English and it stuck in my mind for a long time. Finally, I've managed to write the first chapter. I personally enjoy reading medieval fics, I wish there were more of them. So, here's one that I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. I really like the storyline of this one, personally. Takes a bit to think up, but it is really interesting.**

**Oh! And again, I didn't have a beta. So please point out any mistakes you may find, please and THANK YOU.**

**Lastly, thank you Kingdom Hearts OST for the title of this fanfic. Because I spent all night and all morning try to think of a good one and it DID NOT work at all.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, or Kingdom Hearts 2; I put all three just to be politically correct.**

Waltz of the Damned

"_Two households, both alike in dignity,  
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,  
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,  
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.  
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes  
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;  
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows  
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.  
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,  
And the continuance of their parents' rage,  
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,  
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;  
The which if you with patient ears attend,  
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend."_

--from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

XOX

"We'll be the best friends forever, won't we, Sora?" A little girl in a light pink dress that was slightly torn and grass stained poked at the brunette laying on the ground beside her.

"Yeah, Kairi." The boy sighed at the red head and asked, "Why do you ask me that everyday?"

"I dunno…" She bit her lip in thought, then exhaled, "I just like hearing it."

Sitting up and staring at her, he let out a laugh, "You're so weird, Kai."

"Weird, huh?" She scrunched up her face in mock anger and began to chase the boy around.

"You can't catch me!" He exclaimed in confidence, turning around to stick his tongue out at his friend.

From behind him he heard a loud, "Oh yeah?" Before he had the chance to respond again, her body impacted against his back and caused them to both collapse to the ground with an 'oomph'. "Told you," She said triumphantly as she winced. 

"Alright you…" He started his claim of failure, but seeing the girl beginning to get up, he force himself against her to make them both over so that he landed on top of her and pinned her to the ground, "Don't win!"

With a pout, she exclaimed, "You're so mean!"

"Ahem."

Turning around and seeing Kairi's father, the king of the neighboring land, the boy's eyes widened and he quickly got off the girl with a trailed out, "Um…"

Ignoring the boy completely, the man stated, "It's time to go home, Kairi."

With a sigh, she answered, "Okay." Standing up and dusting off her dress, she whispered, "Bye, Sora."

"Bye…" He answered in a muffle, embarrassed beyond belief.

Hard to believe that innocent little boy was me, huh? Now I would stick my tongue out at Kairi's father as to say, "Ha ha, Kairi likes me and you can't do anything about it." Though that probably wouldn't be the best idea. The relationship between my family and Kairi's had always been tense, but they remained at peace until recently. Me and Kairi of course were still best friends despite the recent events and the fact that we were now forbidden from seeing each other. Er, well I guess lovers would be a better term now rather than best friends. We were only just good friends when the orders had first been put in place so that we wouldn't fall in love. They're obviously stupid because the thrill of meeting in secret intensified our feelings and made the inevitable happen at a much quicker rate.

Which was exactly what I was doing now; waiting for Kairi in an old abandoned shack. I knew the fact that it was raining would delay her a bit, but I was starting to worry. Of course, for nothing because as soon as I considered going out to look for her she walked through the door.

"Ugh, people are getting so nosy lately. I swear every time I walk down the street in this cloak there's always one more person asking where I'm going." The red head sighed in an exhausted fashion, pulling the hood down from her head.

"It's okay, I was thinking of finding a new route any way," I smiled, jumping off the pile of lumber that I had made my seat and made my way to her, reaching out to stroke the side of her face with a calloused hand and kissing her lips, "It's nice to see you," I whispered softly.

She gave a laugh, pulling away and giving me a 'you-can't-be-serious' look, "It's nice to see you, too."

Frowning for a moment in slight discomfort of needing to touch her, I titled my head with a grin, "So, how's life in the world of Princess Kairi?"

She rolled her cerulean eyes, "Just _peachy_. Most of the time I'm wasting away with the babbling idiots that my father likes to call suitors."

"Oh," I frowned at her displeasure, but smiled inside at the fact that none of them had appealed to her, "My parents have talked about it, but they haven't done anything. I probably won't even get a say in it at all. I'll just wake up one morning, surrounded by servants exclaiming, "Congratulations Prince Sora, it's your big day!" or something like that."

Kairi snickered slightly for a moment before she frowned again and gave a deep sigh, "What are we going to do, Sora? It's only a matter of time before we're both engaged to people from small countries that no one's even heard of much less knows where they are just so that our parents can keep us away from each other."

"I'll find a way for us to be together…I promise," I replied softly, "But for now we've got to keep playing this charade. Or else they'll know that we're meeting. And that happen because I don't know what I would do if they…" Clenching my fist and clamping my eyes shut, I could not even finish my own sentence.

"Sora, maybe we're just not meant--" She stopped her statement after catching sight of my expression.

"Don't. Say it." I commanded through clenched teeth and turning my head to not let her see the glare upon my face. "Sorry…" I apologized as I whirled back around to make sure I had not hurt her.

Shaking her head with a deeper frown, she answered, "I know you're right. It's just that the odds are against us."

"Not the odds, just our parents." I replied, an idea fresh in my head, "If we had a way to win the peoples' support without one of them turning us in for rewards…"

"Most are greedy, though. I suppose with the new trading right that life is getting much easier for most…" Her face brightened.

"Exactly. If the majority of the people are in the middle-wealth in a few months then they will see that we are merely people with needs just as they once were and not see us for their income." I explained, a smile upon my lips.

With a bout of giggles, Kairi stated, "You're so smart. I knew I loved you for a reason."

Faking a pout, I replied, "And I thought it was because of my amazingly good looks."

Giving a deep stare and walking forward, managing to back me into the wall, she asked with a tilt of her head, "Is that why you love _me_?"

"That and other…reasons." I answered awkwardly, blinking repeatedly at her reaction.

"Other reasons?" She repeated, leaning her head in closer to mine; her eyes millimeters from my own and staring directly into me.

As if that was not awkward enough for me already, she was pressed up against me; with us both having drenched cloaks and clothes. "Um…" I trailed off, my eyes straining to look away from hers so that I could answer her in a normal fashion. Finally realizing that it would not work, I asked, "What's up with you…?"

She kept the same focused stare on me for at least ten more seconds before she finally cracked and gave a grin, "I had you worried that I had foiled your inappropriate fantasies, hmm?"

Noting the fact that she was still against me, I answered, "Who said that they were fantasies and not _plans_?" I then closed the distance between our lips, kissing her softly and still receiving a fight in return for a few moments before she gave in and returned the effort. I began to pull away, my lips cascading to the edge of her lips, but found it a more entertaining idea to take it a little further. I traced over her jaw line, beginning to move down her neck before she shivered and took a step back.

Slightly laughing and breathing heavily, she stated, "Imagine if someone found us."

I merely laughed and fell back against the cold and moist wall, "I think they would faint from the 'dishonor we are putting on our families' before the idea of reporting us for the reward would even pop into their head."

"But of course once they woke up I would put the blame on you. After all, it is you coaxing me into doing all these bad things even though I first fight against it." She replied with a playful smirk.

"Right. You fight for at least no more than two seconds. And I'm sure that's only you trying to tell yourself that you're still innocent. Besides, it's really all _your_ fault for tempting me."

"Tempting you?" She repeated as she crossed her arms and leaned down closer to my face.

"Yes," I stood up straight to avoid her attempt to do the same thing as she just did again, "like you're trying to do right now."

"Hmm," Taking a step back and tapping a finger against her chin in thought, her lips curved upward into a smile as she answered, "I suppose you're right."

"Of course." I stated before sticking out my tongue at her. Kairi rolled her eyes as she walked past me. I was watching her every move yet she managed to whirl around fast enough to kick the back of my legs so that I actually couldn't do anything and fell. While she was laughing at her accomplishment, I raised an eyebrow in wonder, "What was _that_?"

While she paused to answer, I reached up high enough to grab her arm and managed to pull her down on top of me. "You're so mean! I can't ever win!" She pouted, and very loudly at that; loud enough to catch the attention of some one outside.

The door began to slowly crack open, causing Kairi to jump up and pull the cloaks hood over her head and me to back into a hiding place behind the logs. A large and tall man stepped in, greeting in a deep voice, "Well, hello there…"

The hungry tone in his voice made me scowl, but for the moment I kept my position. "H-hello…" Kairi stuttered an answer, tugging on her hood and hoping that it would conceal her face more. The hood however, I knew, would do nothing to disguise her slim and pleasurable figure from the man.

Stepping closer to her and she backing up in return, he asked, "And what are _you_ doing all alone in the woods like this, hmm?"

Backing all the way up into the wall, he stopping a foot away from her, Kairi eyed the door to add effect to her lie, "I'm here with my betrothed…Who should be back any moment now, by the way,"

The large man just gave a smile at the nervousness in her voice. He then crossed my imaginary borderline between himself and her, extending his arms and pressing his hands against her shoulders. She squeaked in discomfort as he leaned his head down to hers, giving a chuckle and stating hungrily, "That doesn't mean that we can't have our little fun before he gets back."

That was more than enough for me. I jolted up, causing him to release Kairi and whirl around to see who was interrupting him. His face enraged, he pulled out a hidden dagger from his belt and charged at me. I dodged underneath him just barely as I grabbed a log from the pile I had been hiding behind, managing to catch him off guard from behind and hit him over the head with the wood. He falling to the ground with blood pooling out around his head, I dropped the log to the ground and rushed to Kairi. "We've got to go," I hissed, grabbing her hand and rushing out of the door of the cabin.

About twenty feet away, she whispered worriedly, "What about that man…?"

I laughed; I couldn't help it. Coming to an abrupt stop and whirling around to face her, I asked, "You seriously feel sorry for a man that attempted to force himself on you?"

Her face twisting up in thought for a moment, she gave a frown, "I suppose so…"

Holding her sides and pressing my forehead against hers, I sighed, "I don't get you at all…but I'm glad I was with you. I don't know what I would do with myself if he had shown up when I wasn't with you."

"Yes," She paused to quickly brush her lips against mine and then backed away a small distance, "thank you."

Just staring at her in a daze for a moment, pondering how I was so lucky, I shook it off and suggested, "I guess we need a new meeting spot, huh?"

Thinking for a moment, Kairi answered, "Let's meet where we use to play as kids; that field."

I smiled in response, "Okay…Wow, that will certainly bring back some memories."

Giggling, she added, "Exactly the point of suggesting it."

I blinked and gave a bigger smile at her. Making sure that I did not daze out again, I diverted my eyes to the sky and noted that it had been cleared of clouds and that the sun was now setting. I gave a sigh, "Looks like it's about time to go home…"

Looking up too, she answered in a frown, "Yeah…"

Stepping forward, I hugged her and whispered into her crimson hair, "Be careful, alright?"

"I will," She replied, wrapping her arms around me in return and laying her head on my shoulder for a moment. She letting go of me and I retreating my own hands, she placed her hands at her hips and stated, "Just make sure _you_ are too."

Laughing, I answered, "I guess that's fair."

Taking a few steps in her own direction, the redhead turned around to say, "Meet me the day after tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded, watching her continue on her way for a small distance before she vanished behind the thick layer of trees. Sighing and kicking at a tree, I decided I was going to stray off my intended path as far and for as long as possible. I _hated_ going home. I hated my parents trying to make me a 'perfect king'. Even better, they did not even do that themselves; they hired servants. _Servants_, teaching me how to be _king_. Hah!

At least the servants did a hell of a better job acting like actual parents to me. They actually cared about _my_ opinions, _my_ emotions unlike my biological parents. I especially didn't want to be in a forced marriage like my parents were made to do. I mean, what's the point of that any ways? It's like animals basically; for breeding purposes, as I see it. And it merely leads to cheating and causing scandals across the kingdom. I didn't want my life to be that way and I definitely did not want my own children to be in the same position as I was at this age. So I defied them in every way that I possibly could. Kairi being the one I fell in love with was a plus because she just happened to be the daughter of my family's bitter enemies. That was unintentional of course, though.

My castle coming into view, I just rolled my eyes. I sometimes wished I could be average despite all the hardships I would have to go through. At least then I would have caring parents and most likely a _wife_ instead of a secret lover. That sounded so much more appealing then living an easy life surrounded with riches, parents that treated me like a prized pet, and being forced to marry some girl that they would pick for me and I would not even get the chance to talk to until after the wedding.

I groaned quietly to myself as I approached the guards; they stepping immediately aside and opening the large door after catching sight of my unusual and unique hairstyle. Passing through the courtyard I entered the cold stone hallway, more uninviting and forbidding every single time I walked through it. Giving a deep sigh, I muttered to myself, "Welcome home, Sora." Hearing the greeting echo off the walls, I pretended for a moment that it was my real and loving family that was talking.

Instead, when I turned around to say hello back, I was ripped back into reality. All I saw was a blackened and lonely hallway.


	2. Prince Axel Arrives

**Spring break is finally here & I've been in the writing mood so whoo! This chapters a bit...shorter considering that I definately like writing from Sora's POV better. Sorry Kairi xD. Again, it's close to midnight so please point out any errors there may be.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Or the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame.**

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED: Chapter Two

Home was not exactly the best. Compared to Sora, though, I really shouldn't complain at all. Instead of parents that could care less like he had, I had parents that cared too _much_. If I hadn't been sneaking away from home since I was little, I would certainly be caught by the many guards surrounding the castle. Especially now that I had my own body guard. But seeing as Riku feels he has much better things to do than follow me around, it's pretty easy to wander off and have him "not notice". Of course, I would take the blame if he was caught not watching me; which it really was my fault any way despite the fact that he was making it easier to do.

"Ick." I gave a distasteful look to the mud on the ground, realizing that I would have to crawl in it. Since I couldn't simply stroll past the guards at the entrances to the castle like I did with Riku, I had to find a loose part of the wall in the courtyard and remove bricks so that I could fit through. Repeating, "Ew," over and over again as I kneeled into the mud, I slowly began to remove the bricks. My eye couldn't help but twitch as I felt the mud squish beneath me and into my clothes as I crawled through the entrance. Thankfully the other side was a bit drier because it was shielded by shrubs.

Putting the bricks back into place first, I crawled slowly and quietly out from the shrubs as to not disturb the guards. The courtyard clear, I quickly made my way to the entrance. Walking into the hall and hearing the click of the door behind me, I gave a relieved sigh and smiled at the warmth coming off the torches lining the hallway.

"So you're back." A deep, but non-authoritative voice stated.

Turning my head to Riku and removing the hood of my cloak, I nodded, "Yes."

With a shake of his silver haired head, he continued, "You know, you're probably going to get caught one day. The King is already very disbelieving when it comes to you and your apologies for slipping away from my watch; he just doesn't want to admit that his daughter is sneaking around behind his back."

Frowning a bit, I answered this as I walked past him, "As long as you don't rat us out, we'll be fine. There is no need to worry." He did not bother to argue or catch up to me; which I was glad for.

Turning down another hall, I came to a tapestry that hide a hallway to my chamber. Again, I restate the fact that my parents cared too much. They believed that if the castle was ever invaded I would have a more decent chance of surviving. Really, you only needed to barely press into the tapestry to realize that there is not a solid wall behind it so I didn't see the point at all.

Walking into my chamber to find a servant putting away clean dresses, I gave a small squeak from the surprise of her being there. With a laugh and a friendly smile, she apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Taking one look at my wet and dirtied clothes, she exclaimed, "Dear God, child! I'll get a warm bath started for you right now."

"Thank you," I answered her as she rushed out of the room. Knowing I could not sit on my bed because I would get it dirty, my only choice was to lean against the stone wall. Feeling every texture of the wall through the wet fabric of my clothes, I shuddered. '_I can't believe that man tried to do that to me…_' I thought, my leg muscles tightening in discomfort and wrapping my arms around myself, '_But I do hope he's okay. Sora hit him really hard with that log…_'

As much as I hoped he was okay, in the back of my mind I knew he deserved it.

_'If father found out…_' I shuddered again from that thought. If my father found out, Sora's hard hit with the log would be getting off much too easily. Father would probably resort to all kinds of unnecessary torture and would probably decide on beheading him afterward. I suppose it's nice to know that he cares for me that much, but in my opinion he really over reacts to _everything_. You would think that he would become less protective of me as I got older, but it was quite the opposite. It often seemed like I had a lot more freedom as a child than I did at this age. I would probably appreciate him a lot more if I switched parents with Sora, but for now he was just intolerable.

"M-Miss Kairi, your b-bath is ready…" A young servant girl, about the age of eight I presumed, stuttered as she entered the room. It was obvious that she was frightened by my presence, her emerald eyes looked as if tears would pour down at any second. I almost wanted to laugh because I certainly did not pose a threat of any kind, but I knew it would only scare her more if I did.

"Thank you," I answered in a soft tone, slightly bending down to look her in the eyes, "And please don't call me 'Miss'. I _despise_ being treated as if I'm better than everyone else."

"O-okay M--…I mean…Kairi." She again stuttered in reply, giving a small bow before she scurried out of the room. I smiled in amusement before walking down the hall to the bath area. The hot water was so relaxing; I would have given _anything_ to be able to stay there for an hour more. Unfortunately, dinner time interrupted that chance.

Being stuck at a table for no less than an hour, whether I was finished eating or not, with my parents was not exactly my favorite activity. Especially _now_ with marriage planning in almost every conversation, even though I've yet to approve of any of their suitors. I'm sure they both have a voice in the back of their minds telling them that I won't accept anyone but Sora; however they simply choose to ignore it.

My father chewing on his food with a blank stare upon his face, my Mother finally started a conversation, "We have a new suitor for you. He will be arriving here tomorrow."

"…Alright." I answered, not knowing hot to really respond. '_Great. It's going to be even harder to get away after tomorrow with him following my every step_.' I sighed inwardly.

Blinking at my response as if she expected something more, she continued, "His name is Axel, prince of Notre Dame. He's a few years older than you are, but very handsome. Brilliant eyes like emeralds, and hair that almost seems like fire!" She gushed.

I nodded and merely continued to pick at my food. '_Why don't you marry him then, if he's so wonderful?'_ I mentally rolled my eyes. He could be the most beautiful person to ever exist on this Earth and it still would not matter to me. So what was the point in trying to encourage me?

A low growling noise came from across the table before I heard an exclamation of, "_Kairi!_" Raising my head up, I gave her a questioning look. Only infuriating her more, she continued, "Why is you can't get over that _boy_!? You haven't even seen him in _years_!" Inwardly I smirked, '_Little does she know._'

"Who said anything about _him?_ It's simply the fact that I would like to make my own decisions about who _I _fall in love with. You know, you're not the one who's going to spend the rest of your life with them; it will be _me._" I stated in a furious tone, rising out of my chair. Knowing I was only going to make the situation worse by staying, I muttered, "Excuse me." and began towards my chamber.

'_One of these days I'm going to accidentally give me and Sora's relationship away…_' I thought, giving a relieved sigh that I managed to keep my mouth, for the most part, shut. Why did she even have to mention him, any way? It's not like every time I came home from my meetings with Sora and announced "I'm so in love with that boy!" to their faces. So why would she have brought him up?

Maybe I needed to act more accepting to the suitors and then create a huge 'fight' with them. That would seem real enough to my parents.

Entering my room and collapsing backwards onto the bed, I decided that was going to be my plan. Although it wasn't exactly fair to this 'Prince Axel' that I was going to break his heart, maybe it would help him find his own true love.

_'Yes_,' I reassured myself, _'It's better for us all…But I'm sorry, Axel, even though I don't know you.'_ I apologized and hoped that it would some how reach him before I slowly drifted into sleep.

XOXO

"Get up! Ooh, this is not a good first impression for you new suitor, Miss Kairi. You're already twenty minutes late!"

"I don't--" I began to yawn out, but froze immediately as I remembered my plan, "_Ah_! Help me get ready, please!"

She stared for a moment before asking, "_What_?"

"Um…I just feel like this one might actually be good. Just a feeling, really. It'll most likely be wrong and he'll be the same as all the others before him." I rolled my eyes in disgust, when inside I was really giggling over the brilliance of my plans.

With a relieved sigh, she laughed as she handed me my dress for the day and gently pushed me towards the door, "Alright. _That_ sounds more like you. But hurry yourself up if you do want this one to be the good one!"

"Yes, yes," I answered in a dull tone, shoving past the tapestry and continuing towards my 'dressing room' where several maids would be waiting to knock the breath out of me with the death trap that they liked to call a corset.

Mindlessly chattering among themselves as they dressed me, I made no reply, comments, or squeaks of discomfort as they pulled the strings of the corset to the point where breathing was almost impossible so that I would not delay their progress. "Good luck," One older lady said to me, patting me on the back and motioning me to move forward.

Turning my head back slightly as I began to walk, I answered softly, "Thank you." With a simple nod in return, I began down the hallway. Creaking the wooden door open to the main entrance hall, I could feel the eyes of my mother and the Queen of Notre Dame upon me. Smiling sheepishly as I approached the two, I gave a small curtsy to welcome our guest.

While Mother still gave me a disapproving stare, the other Queen gave me a lightened smile, "Axel is waiting outside for you if wish to speak to him."

Curtsying again, I gave my thanks and made my way out the door. Only making it a few feet out into the courtyard, I then heard, "Well. Hello there, _Princess_."

Whirling around and immediately noticing the 'fire-hair', as my Mother had described it, I answered, "And you must be Prince Axel."

A small smirk on his lips, he took a step forward, "In the flesh."

Noting how close he was standing to the door, I commented, "…Well, aren't you an eavesdropper?"

He gave a look to the door and chuckled, "Bah. It's not like they really talk about anything worth _hearing_. I just do it for the fun."

Raising my eyebrows a bit in interest, I answered, "Ah. I see." Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. So far he only seemed to talk to me as if I were a friend, which meant that the relationship would simply not work and I would not have to live through the guilt of breaking his heart.

"So what do you do for excitement around here?" Axel glanced around the courtyard; obviously nothing met his interest.

"There's not really much to do except for go into town for the shops. We could do that tomorrow, if you like." I suggested with a shrug. _'With as crowded as the town is, it will be a lot easer to get away too._' I mentally added.

"Sounds good." He answered with a broadened smirk. The front door then opened, causing us both to turn our heads.

"It's dinner time." My Mother announced, eyeing us both in obviously displeasure at the fact that we were standing at least eight feet away from each other. Nodding, Axel walked past her and into the castle. Following afterward and avoiding my Mother's eyes, I made my way to the dining hall.

Managing to live through the dull dinner which mostly consisted of both mothers asking their 'future child' questions about their lives. My parents watched with anxious stares when I replied while the other Queen just smiled the whole time; which didn't exactly make the questions any less awkward to answer.

Finally excused from the table about twenty minutes after our guests had already left, I quickly made my way to my chamber so that I could collapse onto my bed and _sleep._ Only a mere five feet from the tapestry that hid my room, Axel stood; leaning against the wall for support. "…And what are you doing here?" I asked with a bit of a nervous tone. I did not want him to know where my room was, even if he did just think of me as a friend.

Walking towards me, he answered, "I wanted to give you a little something,"

"_What_--" My reply was cut off as his lips covered mine. My eyes widened in surprise and he just strode away with a smirk upon his face. Feeling as if my lips were on fire, I wiped my hand against my mouth and hoped that it would somehow remove the taste; but it didn't.

Making sure that he was not still watching me from down the hall, I then dashed into my chamber. Immediately running to the window, I spit several times. I didn't care if it was 'unladylike'; I needed his taste to be _gone_. Finally coming to the conclusion that it was not going to go away, I collapsed backward onto my bed and pressed my fingers against my lips. '_At least I'm going to see Sora tomorrow,_' I sighed, '_that will take my mind off these things._'

I had never been in this situation before because it was considered inappropriate to really make any kind of contact at all with the opposite sex unless you were married. However, evidentially Axel was like Sora and did not care. I didn't really care for that rule either, but I had no love for Axel and that in itself made it inappropriate.

Wrapping the blankets around me more so that they would be tighter, I whispered to myself, "Sora…I need to be with you so I don't have to live like this anymore…I'm so tired of lying…"


	3. The Charm

**I'm finally done! oO I've gotten so stuck on certain parts of this chapter. I can't wait until I have to write next chapter from Kairi's POV, ahhh! She always gives me issues. Although I have come up with a lot of the plot that will come later on, I have no idea what's going to happen in the next chapter. Just warning you now that it might be a while...**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

**Dislclaimer: I do not own KH or The Hunchback of Notre Dame As long as Axel is in the plot I have to keep saying that oo; great lol.**

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED: Chapter Three

I did not manage to get very far from the castle gates before I heard the dreaded outburst, "Where are you going?" My father, or at least my _benefactor,_ along with the soldiers surrounding him stared down at me from a top their horses.

"Just into town; a way to cure my boredom." Nodding, his horse began to walk again and the others followed after.

Not bothering to look back or give any kind of sign that he held emotion, my father warned, "Be careful; that is in _their_ kingdom."

"Of course." I continued walking, rolling my eyes as I made my sarcastic statement. Walking the path alongside the forest, I began to hear rustling hidden behind a curtain of trees. Gripping the sword at my side, I asked, "Who's there?"

Only receiving a small rustle in response, I took a step into the woods. Making ve5ry small steps as to not make much noise, I stopped again and repeated, "…Hello?"

Rolling out of the bushes came a younger boy at least no more than ten years old. He had short and untidy brunette hair with a bright pair of green eyes that glared out at me from under his bangs that hung in his face. Holding a stick at my chest, he exclaimed, "Prince Sora, I challenge you!"

Chuckling at his weapon choice and also the age difference between us, I answered, "I don't think your mother would appreciate me sparring with you."

"Who said anything about her? It is just us right here, right now!" He yelled back in response, a furious look upon his face; the stick still pointed towards me.

Shaking my head and beginning to walk away, I answered, "Sorry, but I decline." A few feet of walking forward and hearing no response, I paused. The boy _surely_ was not thinking that he was going to attempt to use a surprise attack on me. Only managing to turn slightly, I saw the boy dash past me; my pouch of money clutched between his hands.

"You! Come back here!" I called out as I sped after her. I did realize that he was poor by his tattered and ripped clothes but I did not realize that he was that desperate for money. Chasing him out of the forest, we managed to arrive at a village that was near the town I was trying to get to.

Being a few feet behind, I watched as a woman stopped him in his tracks and smacked his hand. "Cedric, I can not _believe_ you!" Cedric turned around, ducking behind his mother after spotting me. She let out a small gasp once she realized my identity, "Oh my…I-I'm so sorry. He's so young and we really need money to support us. He didn't realize what he was doing…" The woman gave an apologetic bow and handed me the pouch of money.

"It's okay. I really needed the exercise any way, so that run was pretty useful to me." I flashed to warm smile to show her that I was not angered at all. Both the boy and his mother tittered at my remark. Untying the pouch, I pulled out five gold coins and held them out to the mother.

At first she smiled but then shook her head solemnly, "I cannot take your charity, your majesty. I'm sorry."

"It's not charity," I grabbed her hand, placed the coins in her palm and closed her fist, then gave a grin to Cedric, "It's for winning the match. You did catch me off guard." With that, I went back on my way into town.

"Thank you!" They both called out gratefully, waving goodbye. Turning around, I waved back and continued to walk.

Arriving at the entrance of the town, I sighed as if to say, "Finally…"

"You really are going to be a great king some day."

Whirling around, I faced and elderly woman, "Thank you, I suppose. But what makes you say that?" Raising an eyebrow, I took a step closer to her.

With a very broad smile and eyes that looked almost as if they were glazed over, she answered, "I saw what you did for that child and his mother. Very selfless and kind of you."

"Oh," I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly, "It was nothing, they obviously needed it more than me." The woman only continued to smile at me before I said, "Uh, well thank you for your compliment but I do need to get going."

I started to turn around before she called out, "Wait. I have something for you." I blinked curiously as she pulled out a necklace with a light pink pendant in the shape of a flower on it. Placing it into my open palm, she stated, "A charm for when the battle rages on and all seems lost; a ray of hope, you could say."

Examining the charm for a moment, I looked up, "Thank--" seeing no trace of the woman at all, I trailed out the rest of my thanks, "you…? Hello…?" I glanced around for the woman, but she was completely gone.

'_Well, that was certainly interesting…_' I commented mentally as I began to walk through town. First off, I stopped to buy a plain necklace for the next princess that my parents would introduce me to. That way I would actually have something to show from going into town, or else my parents would question what I was doing while I was out.

About to start on my way to the field, I heard, "Where could she have gotten off too?"

"Who knows…"

Peeking around the corner of a tent, I spotted a silver haired man I identified as Kairi's body guard Riku and a red haired man that I supposed was another body guard. "_Sora_!" A harsh whisper called my name.

"Hm?" I looked around questioningly, then spotted Kairi hiding between two tall privacy fences. "Funny finding you here," I gave a slight snicker as I squeezed into the space, barely big enough for us to stand facing each other.

"Shut up, I'm hiding." She retaliated, then practically jumped onto me when she kissed me with such force. My eyes first widening a bit in surprise, they quickly drifted shut as I returned the kiss; wrapping my arms around her waist. At least I tried, anyway. Her dress was so puffed out it felt like I was hugging air. Breaking away from her, laughing and tugging on her dress, I asked, "What is _this_?"

"It's because I have a suitor…"

"The red-haired man I saw with Riku?"

"That's him." She continued with a sigh, "Prince Axel of Notre Dame."

"He's that bad?" I asked because of the tone in her voice. Usually she would laugh about how they swooned over her or how simple minded they were.

With a slight pause, she breathed out, "Yes." She then smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the hiding spot, "But it doesn't matter because you're here now. So let's go!"

"Run right through the town? Neither of us have cloaks or anything, I don't think that's such a good idea…"

"That's the fun part," She pouted.

"You are _crazy_," I laughed, then kissed her forehead, "but I love you."

She blinked for a moment, then smiled; whispering, "Come on,"

And so we began the mad dash out of town; narrowly avoiding being in eyesight of Riku and Axel. For the most part the people ignored us, though a few did give questioning stares. "Whoo," I sighed out, collapsing backwards onto the grass. Kairi laughed, also falling backwards besides me.

A few moments of relaxing silence passed, then it suddenly became awkward. Kairi had not really talked at all after I had said, "I love you." Leaning upward as quietly as possible, I glanced to her face to see a very dazed out stare. Falling backward again, I almost chuckled but kept my lips shut tight. '_Why--' _I wondered why she was reacting so strange, but realized, '_Oh…This was really the first time I really directly said that out loud…Still, I thought that how I felt was obvious…'_

Giving another glance to her, I called, "Kairi?"

"Hm?" She leaned upward, a curious look plastered on her face.

"I've got something for you," I pulled the necklace out of my pocket and placed it in her hands, "The lady that gave it to me said that it was a ray of hope or something…I just thought that I should give it to you."

Turning a light shade of red, she answered, "Thank you."

"Here," I gently took the necklace from her and placed it over her head, "For you, my princess." I imitated the cocky tone of Kairi's suitors that I often heard about from her, causing her to laugh.

"And when did you finally become proper?" She asked with a playful smirk.

"I have always been proper, but that is only in public," running a hand through her hair and against her cheek, I continued, "but with you, my dear, I can be as improper as I want."

"Or at least as much as I'll let you." She added.

"Aw," I pouted, "I thought you loved me."

At this, her face began to redden again. She stammered, "I-I _do_!"

"Then say it." I leaned forward so that my face was only inches from hers, staring her directly in the eyes.

Only blinking and parting her lips a few times, the only sound she gave was, "Hm…"

"Come on, Kairi," I pressured, giving her a short kiss and then saying, "I love you."

"I love you too…" She mumbled, looking down and fiddling with the fabric of her dress.

With a laugh, I stated, "Okay, I guess I'll take that."

"I know it's stupid," She looked up at me with a sheepish smile, continuing, "that I'm embarrassed even though it's been this long."

Shaking my head, I attempted to soothe her embarrassment, "No, it's okay. It's just the way you are. Thought it does confuse me a bit that one minute you're a risk taker and the next you are flustered from me." I laughed.

With a small smile, Kairi replied, "I don't really know, myself."

"At least you kiss me," I pointed out, trying to make at least one positive point.

"Actions speak louder than words, you know." She thought a loud, not really speaking to me before she collapsed backwards onto the grass.

"Really," Leaning down towards her, I continued, "Let's see about that."

"Princess!?" A far off voice called out.

"It's Axel! Stay here," Jolting upward, she gave me a last, soft kiss, "I have to go…I love you. Meet here again tomorrow, alright? Goodbye." She breathed out in a fast whisper before she rushed off.

"Oh, hello, Prince Axel." I heard her greet in a monotone.

In response, Axel asked, "Where have you been for so long?" What I found different is that he sounded more interested in what she was doing more than he was concerned for her well-being.

"Everywhere; just trying to stay away from home as long as possible."

"Rebel, eh? I like that." I squinted my eyes in disgust; he was _much_ too full of himself.

"We should probably be heading back to the castle now; it _is_ getting late." I heard her begin to walk away.

The prince stopped her in her tracks by calling out, "I thought you wanted to stay away from there."

There was a pause before she answered, "Yes, but I also do not want to worry my parents."

"Okay, okay. We'll go back to the castle. You owe me next time, though," I gave a small growl to myself, '_He better not touch Kairi…_'

"Right…" She answered in a sarcastic tone, then I heard the footsteps travel away until I could not hear them anymore. I then stood up, finally able to leave. '_I'll see her tomorrow but after that, what am I going to do? I know she's not interested in him but that doesn't mean _he_ won't try something.' _I made low grumbles to myself as I dragged my feet towards my home.

"Good evening, young master, Sora." A servant woman waved with a bright smile as I passed her in the hall.

With a small, forced smile, I waved back, "Hello."

Figuring it was about dinner time, I walked straight to the dining chamber instead of bothering to wash up; which would most likely infuriate my parents, but that was fine with me. As I expected, my mother's eye twitched when she noticed my clothes as I walked toward the table. After I sat down, as usual, she just ignored my presence completely and continued to pick and gnaw at her food.

A few minutes of silence, which is what our nights consisted of for the most part, my father actually spoke, "So what did you buy in town today?"

A bit taken back at the fact that he was talking to me, I gave a delayed reaction, "Oh! Um, a necklace for the next princess. Make a good first impression, you know."

"And when did you finally catch on to the ways of being a gentleman?" My mother asked in a sarcastic and low tone; not even bothering to look at me as she said it.

Grinding my teeth together and stopping myself from saying things that I would regret, I simply answered, "Today, I suppose."

"About time it happened." She commented.

With a low growl, I got up from the table. "Excuse me," I muttered as I whirled around; silence in answer for a few steps, then I heard their silverware being to clink against their plates as the continued to eat.

"Already finished, young prince?" A guard greeted as I closed the door.

"I lost my appetite." I answered gruffly, continuing on towards my chamber. At least my father acted _somewhat_ friendly; mother was just completely intolerable. To her, it seemed, I was just another servant and unworthy of being king. I believe she has somewhat of a hope for me though, or else she would have stopped pestering me a long time ago. The reality of it is probably that she does not have any other choice because I am her only son.

I _do_ want to be king as she wishes; I always have since I was a small boy. The only problem that I had is that fate is obviously against me; being born into the royal family that just _happens_ to oppose Kairi's future kingdom. Why did I have to be the only son, any way? If an older or younger brother had been born, my parents would have cared less if I betrayed our family, as long as there was another heir to the throne they could just disown me. Luck fails me, however, and leaves me to lay in bed and ponder how my life could have possibly been better.


	4. Sora vs Riku

**This chapters actually somewhat long! And very cute and amusing. I actually enjoyed writing from Kairi's point of view this time; I hope it's always like that from now on. Anyways, here you go. Thank you so much for the reviews and support and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

x.o.x.o

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED: Chapter Four

x.o.x.o

When I woke up, something about my room felt _strange_. Ignoring it, thinking I was being much too superstitious, I stretched out my arms and let out a loud yawn.

"So, you're finally awake, Princess," Opening my eyes to see Prince Axel, I let out a yell and pulled the bed covers up to my neck.

"What are you _doing_ in _here_!? I'm not decent!"

"Eh," was about all he got to answer before a maid rushed into the room.

"Miss Kairi! Are you--" Catching sight of the prince, she stopped mid-sentence. Grabbing his wrist with a stern look, she began to drag him out, "Prince Axel! I know you are her suitor but this is simply _uncalled_ for!"

Instead of answering her, I heard Axel reply with, "Hey, ow! Let go of my arm, lady, that _hurts_." Then a click of the door.

"Phew," I let out a sigh; dropping the covers and collapsing backwards. I knew he liked to be suggestive but I did not actually think that he _was_ a pervert. '_At least my parents may kick him out now._' I beamed at the thought of being able to maneuver easily through the castle again as I had been able to do only a few days ago. Today was lucky, however, because Axel probably wasn't going to want to face me for the rest of the day after that incident. Or even if he tried my parents, and most likely his own mother too, would not allow it. It was also easier because I didn't have to wear one of those dresses that I could loose myself in; as long as I made it past the maids unnoticed.

"Why was he in here, anyway?" The young girl servant who had once been afraid of me asked. I jumped a little bit; not noticing she was there until she spoke.

"I have no idea," I answered with a sigh then paused, "…Oh, hey, what's your name?"

"I-It's Selphie, Miss." She blushed as if she just remembered that I was a princess.

"I told you; call me Kairi. How old are you? Just curious." I obviously knew she was quite a bit younger than me, but I just wanted to clarify.

"Sixteen years."

My mouth almost dropped open, "_What_?"

Furrowing her brows a bit, she asked, "How old did you think I was…?"

"Around eleven, or maybe twelve years…" I flushed in embarrassment at my miscalculation; it was simply amazing that she was only one year younger than I was.

"It's alright, I _do_ suppose I look young for my age." Selphie was smiling and to my relief, amused.

"Still, I'm sorry." I gave a small, apologetic bow.

"Really, it's okay; don't take it so seriously." She laughed as she tried to settle my embarrassment.

With a small smile of my own, I answered, "Just the way I was raised, I suppose; to react like that."

"What I'd give to be in your place," Selphie gave a sigh; her eyes seemingly glazed over from the day dream.

"Me? Oh, no. You certainly wouldn't _want_ my life." My mouth was almost a gape, wondering why anyone would possibly want to _willingly_ lead such a dreadful life.

The younger girl also gaped in response, "Are you _joking_? Riches, handsome princes, and servants attending to your every wish? That sounds _very_ pleasing, if you ask me."

"Well, as you just witnessed, Prince's are often much more trouble then their handsome looks can make up for." I answered in a slight grimace, nodding my head towards the door.

With a giggle, Selphie answered, "You certainly have a point there."

Pausing, I then gave a longing sigh, "At least, for the most part, you get to make your own decisions. If I don't agree to one of my parent's suitors soon, the next candidate won't even be a suitor; it will be my _betrothed_."

Her emerald eyes shining in sympathy, she answered, "I'm sure _one_ will be in your fancy eventually…"

"You would think that," I smiled, fiddling with the charm on the necklace that Sora had given me the previous day, "but it just seems to not be that way."

Noting my dazed expression and the necklace, she commented with a sly smirk, "Some one already has your heart." Giving a nod in response, she asked, "Who? There _has_ been rumors about you and your body guard in the maids quarters before but I didn't believe them…"

"_Riku_?" I blurted out with wide eyes, then fell into laughter, "Absolutely not! He just helps me get to where I need to go without my parent's suspicion."

"Who is it, then?" She repeated again, more eagerly this time.

Standing up and walking towards the window, I hinted, "Who's the only prince within a close range of this kingdom?"

She jumped up and dashed over to me, "Prince _Sora_?"

I gave a broad smile at her reaction, and nodded again, "Yes, him."

"You're lucky!" She gave a fake pout for a moment before grinning again, "He always seems _so_ charming."

"He is; even more so when you get to know him better. He has a lot of moments that almost out rule how charming he can be, though…" I commented with a chuckle; referring to the suggestive comments that would come…hmm…just about every hour or so?

The door to my room creaked open to reveal the head of same maid that had dragged Axel out peeking in, "Selphie! You need to get back to work instead of pestering Miss Kairi." The younger girl bit her lip; jumping up and beginning to head towards the door.

"It was my fault, really. I needed her help with something." I blurted out, not wanting Selphie to get in trouble for listening to my endless babble.

With a slight pause and frown, the maid answered, "…Alright, but hurry, Selphie. You have other work to do." With that, she closed the door.

"I'd better be going," Selphie started towards the door again.

I called out, "Wait!" When she turned around and gave me a confused look, I continued, "Remember that what I said was for your ears only. Do not mention or hint _anything_ to anyone; even if they are the ones to bring the subject up. You know our families rivalry; I think my mother and father would burst into flames at the mere mentioning of me and Sora just being _friends_."

With a nod and a smile, she answered, "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you," I gave a small curtsy; she mirroring me in return and causing us both to laugh.

"Goodbye, Kairi," Selphie gave a small wave as she exited; closing the door, and by the sound of her footsteps, dashing off to catch up to the other maid.

'_I most likely should have gotten to know her better before I told her all of that information,_' I gave a slight sigh at my stupidity but still smiled, '_but it's nice to know that I have some one to talk about it besides Sora. If it was a mistake to tell her, I shall just deal with the consequences later._'

For the first time in a few days I dressed in my normal attire; a fairly thin dress that didn't require a corset and actually allowed me to breath; it felt great to not feel like I was walking around in a huge bubble. Smoothing it out a bit, I began down the hallway. "Oh, Riku," I called out in a sing-song voice as I spotted his silver hair.

Cringing slightly and turning around slowly, he replied sourly, "What?"

Giving him an 'I'm so sweet and innocent' smile and flutter of the eyelashes, I answered, "I wanted to go into town today."

Walking towards the door that lead to the courtyard, he grumbled, "Alright…"

"You know you'd much rather do this than stand and guard the castle all day. Much more action, this way," I stated positively; trying to improve his mood.

With a wide smirk, he looked down at me, "Oh, there's _action_; but it's not me who's getting it."

Taking a moment to realize what he was suggesting, I then deeply flushed and exclaimed, "_Riku_! I do _not_--"

"I know you wouldn't, Kairi." He cut off my frantic sentence with his own statement and a roll of the eyes.

Catching up to him and crossing my arms, I replied, "You know, my parents did tell me that you were not actually my older brother a long time ago; you don't need to keep acting the part."

"I can't help it. Even if I could, why would I stop? It's much too amusing." He mocked the 'innocent' smile I had given him early as he looked to me. I merely groaned; picking up my pace so that I could be in front of him and not have to endure his smug look. Walking in silence until the castle was out of view, we both stopped as we reached where the road diverged.

"Why don't you go into town and find yourself a lover so that your spare time isn't wasted on mocking me." I suggested in a still annoyed tone, turning around to face him.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Riku swiftly turned his heels into the opposite direction as he replied.

Turning in my own direction, I replied loudly, "Good luck!"

"I don't need it." I heard him say, causing me to turn around and gape; Riku still walking off.

"Well, aren't you arrogant today?" I muttered to myself, beginning on my way again.

Arriving at the field, I had to hold in giggles as I found Sora sprawled out on the ground; snoring peacefully. Kneeling beside him and taking one of his hands in both of mine, I had to laugh to myself, "Silly…"

I never really took the time to notice how calloused his hands were until this moment; how his hand felt so rough against my own. It was very different for a prince, but that's what Sora got for his love of swordsmanship. His parents made the mistake of taking him to the annual competition and he got hooked. He continuously begged for lessons until he finally got them. Sora, of course, had never entered the competition that had originally inspired him because its rules were win or die; and he knew how heartbroken I would be if he lost.

Jolting back into the present, I realized Sora's hand had slid out of my grasp. Finally deciding I was bored, I leaned over slightly to shake his shoulders. "Sora, wake up," I repeated several times, only to have him grunt and roll over on his other side. Sighing, I asked, "You always have to make things difficult, don't you?"

Turning him over onto his back again, I pressed a finger against his lips; not surprised at all to feel them twitch under the pressure as if he was going to kiss it. "Alright, nice try. I know you're awake, Sora." I stated in a slightly amused tone; shoving against his shoulders again. His lips twitched into a smile for a split second before returning back to a blank expression. Standing up and beginning to walk away, I called back, "Well, I'm leaving if a certain prince doesn't wake up!"

I only managed to make it about fifteen feet before I had to go crawling back; exactly what he wanted. Kissing his lips for a split second, I rose back up and asked, "Are you happy now? You've won."

Blinking his eyes open, he merely answered, "Yes and no." His hands shot up and gently pulled my head towards him. Instead of giving in again, I turned my head and caused him to kiss my cheek. He quickly let go and gave me a confused look.

I laughed, "Sorry, it's just that I'm in the mood for talking right now."

"Okay," He fell backwards again.

"That doesn't mean you can fall asleep!"

"I won't," He sat up again, scooting closer and then pulled me down, backwards, on top of him, "if you lay with me, that is."

Rolling my eyes a bit, I complied, "Alright…"

"What's on your mind?" He asked; his breath grazing the top of my head. This must have been a part of his plan too; because for some reason, I forgot what I wanted to talk about in the first place.

"Um…I don't know," I admitted in a sigh.

It was his turn to laugh, "Oh, so you just needed an excuse to shove me away."

His tone was still happy and I knew he was joking, but I still frowned and exclaimed, "No!…It's just, laying like this; I forgot everything that had possibly been on my mind a few moments ago." Not only did I feel every breath on the top of my head and the rise and fall of his chest, but every contour and crease of his heavily muscled body. And, oh, how did he possibly expect me to be able to focus on anything but _him_?

"Oh, sorry," He began to sit up, "I can move if you like."

I shook my head, "No, I like it. It's…nice."

"Nice," He repeated in a snicker.

"Just because I like it doesn't mean I won't get up if necessary." I retorted, immediately shutting him up. I then added smugly, "That's what I thought."

"Princess Kairi; so seemingly innocent, but truly evil inside." Sora stated, collapsing backwards again, taking me with him, and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"And don't forget it." I added; sinking into him as I became comfortable again.

A long moment of silence passed, the only sound audible being both of our breaths, Sora mumbled, "Hmm…"

Tilting my head backwards a bit, I asked, "What is it?"

"This will probably be the last time we will meet for a while," He paused then continued with a slight laugh, "The next _candidate_ for my heart should be arriving next week."

"I do suppose it would be hard for us to get away unnoticed while we both have suitors." I agreed with a sigh.

Sitting up slightly, he leaned his head towards my ear and whispered, "That doesn't mean that I won't try and arrange _something_."

Shivering involuntarily, I asked, "Like what?"

"Anything; sneaking out at night is a possibility." He continued to whisper into my ear then rested his chin upon my shoulder.

I sighed again, slightly turning my head away, "I don't know about that…It's much too dangerous."

"Kairi, we're in danger right _now_; we are every single moment of our lives. I don't think spending an hour or two out in the dark will hurt us much." His hand now cupped my chin while the other was still placed around my waist; his sapphire eyes piercing through my conscious.

"I suppose so…" I trailed off, my voice still traced with worry.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure you won't regret it." He gave a wink, causing me to burst into a fit of laughter. Sora laughed a bit with me; hugging me more tightly as he reinforced, "I'm serious, though."

"I'll look forward to it." I replied, turning my head to face him.

With a quick kiss on the lips first, he gave a serious face and replied, "You better."

Laughing with a roll of my eyes, I retorted, "Or what?"

He took a pause, a thoughtful look upon his face, then stood up; scooping me up into his arms, he stated, "I don't know yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something."

No matter how much I trusted Sora, I did not like the feeling of being suspended in air; I yelled out, "Sora! Put me down, _now_!"

Looking down at me, he simply asked, "Why?"

"Because--" My response turned into a scream as Sora whirled me around, causing me to close my eyes and bury my head into his shoulder.

"Okay, okay; I'll put you down now. My arms are starting to hurt, any way." He stopped, kneeling downward to let my feet touch the ground; then removed his hands. Losing my balance, his hands immediately shot back to my sides, "I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine; I just lost my balance for a moment." I smiled at him for a moment before deciding to collapse against him, "Thank you,"

"For what? Making your head spin?" He asked in an obviously confused tone.

Grinning, I looked up into his eyes, "Yes; in more ways then one."

"Your welcome, then." He gave a small smile himself.

With an amused sigh and a laugh, I stated, "Alright, I know it's been killing you; you can kiss me for real now, if you like."

"About time," His lips crashed down on mine in a force that I didn't expect; his arms wrapping around me and pulling me as close as possible. I kissed him back with equal eagerness; something that even I, myself, didn't expect to do. I guess I subconsciously remembered that this was going to be the last time I was with him for a while.

"And this is what I meant earlier by I didn't get any of the action." A deep voice stated loudly, causing us to break away.

"R-Riku?" I squeaked; my eyes wide and my expression mortified. The problem was I couldn't decide whether to keep that expression or to send him a death glare. Glancing to Sora, he only seemed to give the older boy a puzzled expression.

"It's about time to head back, Kairi; sorry, Prince Charming." Riku began towards me.

At the name Riku had dubbed him, Sora now gave a slight glare, "My name is Sora."

"Prince Sora, right. Well, we'd better be leaving…" He replied, turning around and beginning to walk away. Taking a few glances between the two boys, I started following after him.

"Want to duel?" Sora called out loudly; challenging Riku.

Eyes widening, I whirled around and exclaimed, "Sora, _no_! What are you--"

"I accept." Riku answered, drawing his sword from his side as he turned around.

Running ahead between them both, about twenty feet separating them, I again yelled, "What are you two _thinking_? Don't---"

"Stay back, Kairi." They both answered simultaneously, continuing to walk towards each other. Gaping in disbelief at them both, I took a few steps back and let the battle ensue against my will.

"Your move first, since I was the one to challenge you." Sora stated; both boys wearing smirks upon their faces.

"Stupid, inconsiderate, arrogant--ARGH!" I muttered to myself in anger at both of them.

Taking a breath and placing a serious, focused expression upon his face, Riku began, "Here we go."

He swung at Sora's left side; which was easily blocked. Drawing both of their swords back, they began a short series of swinging at different areas and blocking the opponent, I flinching at every clink of the swords impact, before Riku decided to spice the battle up a bit by taking it to the next level. He jumped up to attempt an overhead swing, which was blocked by Sora. What Sora didn't expect was that Riku then did a back flip; landing on his feet and diving at Sora with amazing speed. He gave a slight yelp as Riku's sword impacted against his. Taking advantage of Sora's lack of attention, Riku swung again and managed to knock the other boy's sword out of his hands; causing Sora to fall to his knees.

"Sora!" I yelled, running and skidding on my knees to his side. He was fine, besides his ragged breathing from being worn out.

"I'm glad that you're the one they chose to protect Kairi; you're very skilled." He panted heavily; a small laugh at the end of his sentence. I gave a small smile; at least he was humorous about losing.

"You're very skilled yourself." Riku admitted, panting too, "Maybe one day you'll be able to beat me; maybe, that is."

"Come with Kairi whenever we meet; I'll duel you until I defeat you." He suggested, falling backwards and leaning against my shoulder to keep from falling over.

Looking up to Riku, I added my suggestion, "Or how about we do like today, where you go into town for a little while. I don't want to have to go through all the trouble of sneaking off just so that I can make sure Sora doesn't pass out from exhaustion."

The older boy nodded, "Agreed. Shall we get going now?"

Looking to my side at the Prince, his breathing slowly starting to regulate but still abnormal, I shook my head, "We can't just leave Sora here after you tired him out like this."

"I'm fine," He retorted; ending up getting himself into short coughing fit from talking too fast.

Frowning, I replied, "I'm staying."

"See what you've gotten yourself into, Sora? A lifetime of nagging from Kairi." At Riku's comment, he only laughed in response, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his lap.

"It's more of what I've gotten _myself_ into for allowing the chance of you two meeting each other." I sighed, shaking my head.


	5. The Angel Princess

**So, tomorrow is my last exam and it happens to be my hardest class; Earth Science, yay! …Yeah. Anyways, sorry this took so long, as usual. It's a bit of a filler chapter but I think it's pretty good. Thank you for all your support and reviews, and I love you guys.**

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED

Chapter Five

"Don't worry, young master; you won't be bored once the princess arrives." A servant stated from my side; attending to the rose bush while I laid in the grass.

"Right," I answered with a sarcastic tone, then stating, "Even so, she and her family won't be arriving for at least several more days."

Shrugging in response, he answered, "Just trying to help."

"I know, thank you," I stood; then began to wander aimlessly around the courtyard. "Hmm…" I sighed to myself; it seemed as if this was the most slowest, dull week of my life. I was truly about to lose my sanity. All there was to do was sleep or watch servants at work since I was not allowed to go in to town incase our visitors arrived early. Neither of my options were particularly very entertaining, forcing me to walk around in circles about the courtyard.

However, to my dismay _and_ pleasure, I heard the clattering of horse's hooves against the ground; excitement, or at least it seemed, finally reaching the castle. Servants scurrying towards the gate in a rush, one maid gave me a gentle shove towards the castle, "You need to hurry and get ready, dear."

Realizing she was talking about my wardrobe, now covered in dirt from lying on the ground, I slightly flushed. I rushed towards the castle, dashing through the halls past servants with many exclamations of, "I'm sorry!"

I wasn't trying to impress the princess, or her family, or even less not make my own parents angry; it was so I would not embarrass my kingdom. Even though I am not king yet, I have always cared about the people that I will one day control a large amount of aspects in their lives. My father actually cared about the people unlike he had cared about me, or even my mother. I hate him for his lack of family skills, but I could at least praise him for being a good king. Even if I did not have Kairi when I was older, which was impossible to think about, mind you, I would at least have my people. That, at least would make my possibly miserable life worth living; at least, I hope it would be enough.

Maids quickly throwing off my old clothes and throwing on the new ones, I then dashed to the entrance and arrived just in time; necklace pocketed.

While her parents seemed like average royals, I had to force my mouth shut when they stepped aside to reveal the princess. She wore a simple white dress that complemented her pale blonde hair and light blue eyes and held an obvious blush upon her face; and I could have swore she was an angel. If I stared at her long enough she even almost looked like Kairi, except with different eyes and hair color. Both of us glancing towards our parents, expecting them to say something, but no words came.

Allowing another small moment of silence to pass, the princess stepped forward with a small curtsy, "I'm Naminè."

Bowing myself, I replied, "Sora." Giving a warm smile and receiving one back, I then again turned to my parents; awaiting any kind of instructions.

Obviously pleased at my and Naminè's reactions towards each other my mother recommended, "Why don't you two go walk in the courtyard and get acquainted with each other while we talk over things?"

First raising an eyebrow at my mother trying to imitate a pleasant voice, I replied, "Okay…" Walking towards the door, I called back, "This way!"

"I kind of figured that because we just entered from there." She replied very quietly and seemed as if she were unsure about saying it; like I would snap at her for being a smart-aleck when I could obviously see that she did not mean to be that way.

"Sorry about that; wasn't thinking." I replied with a laugh, opening the door and holding it for her.

After closing the door, I hurried to where she was staring admirably at the rose bush that I had just been laying near. She stated, "You must have quite the garden."

I shook my head, "We don't have one unless you count these bushes; the servants do care for these as if they were children, though." Touching a rose, I let out an "Ow!" as I felt something rip through the skin on the side of my finger, quickly retreating my hand back.

Naminè giggled, "You didn't know that roses have thorns?"

"I didn't expect it from such a pretty flower," I admitted, shaking my hand out and trying to expel the pain, "Then again, I guess everything in life is like that."

"That's a dreadful way to view it," Naminè pointed out, gently picking a rose from the bush and managing to retrieve her hand unscathed, "Really it's quite the opposite; from my view at least. I admire the beauty of everything, including it's imperfections; like these thorns."

I found myself in a daze, staring at her while she stared at the flower, picking and prodding at it. Realizing what I was doing, I quickly shook myself out of it, answering, "That's nice…" '_What? I love Kairi; I _can't_ be falling for this girl.'_ Turning to look at her again, I mentally added, '_She is a lot like her…I hope that's the only reason why I'm feeling like this.'_

"The sun's beginning to set. Our parents are probably waiting for us to return now." Naminè stated to knock me back into reality.

"Oh, okay." She started to turn around before I called out, "Hey, wait! I bought this for you. Well, I didn't even know who you were at the time, but still; it's meant for you." Digging the necklace out of my pocket, then placed it into her palm.

Turning a shade of pink and looking at her feet, she answered, "Wow…Thank you, Sora."

"You're welcome," I answered, beginning to walk towards the castle entrance; Naminè following after she had clasped the necklace to her neck. Glancing at her face, how she smiled and flushed, I could not help but feel extremely guilty. Naminè actually liked me for who I was, and if I kept acting this way around her she'd fall in love with me; and I can't deal with the guilt of breaking her heart. Or Kairi's heart, for that matter, if I managed to get myself into that situation.

Again, knocking me out of my thoughts was Naminè's concerned voice, "Sora, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." I answered, shaking my head to make sure that I did not fall into a daze again, continuing with a lie, "I was hungry and I suppose the idea of eating put me in a day dream."

Giggling and again giving a bright smile, she answered, "You're silly."

I forced a small smile in return as I continued down the hall, leading her toward the dining room. Entering the room, I slightly flushed due to the fact that everyone's eyes turned to me.

"You're back early." My father stated, sounding as if he did not expect me back for several more hours.

Keeping the wonder out of my statement, I replied, "It's getting dark outside; we figured it was about time for dinner."

"It is? Oh, how fast time flies by!" My mother exclaimed to obviously cover for father and his slightly suggestive statement.

"Indeed." Naminè's mother added for emphasis.

Giving my mother a raised eyebrow and fighting off the urge to do the same to the other queen, I answered, "Right."

"Dinner should be ready soon." My father finally concluded, taking a seat at the table. To possibly infuriate my parents more, I decided not to pull out a chair for Naminè and just sat down. The blonde did not mind, or even notice, but as I predicted my parents both gave me slight glares. It was their way of yelling "You're ruining this for yourself, you fool!" across the table without actually having to make a conversation with me.

Quickly shutting her partly opened mouth, my mother turned back to our guests, "We've asked the servants to cook a feast in your honor."

"Oh, no, you didn't have to go through all that trouble just for us!" The other queen answered in a fake grateful tone; obviously Naminè's parents were not much different from my own.

In that same fake tone, my mother answered back, "You traveled all that way, you must be _dying_ for a good meal."

"That is true," The foreign king laughed; all of the older royals joining in while Naminè and I gave forced smiles. For about another hour I had to listen to their endless rambling until I was finally excused to go to bed.

"Good night." I gave a slight bow to Naminè, she mirroring my words before we headed in opposite directions. Closing the door to my chamber behind me, I sighed and sarcastically commented to myself, "What an eventful day."

Catching sight of the full moon from the corner of my eye, I could not help but be drawn to the window. '_I wonder if Kairi's looking at the moon, too…'_ I mentally sighed, '_What I'd give to be with her right now…These days with Naminè are certainly going to be interesting. She reminds me so much of Kairi at moments; and after not being with her for so long, I fear I'll do something that I'll regret._'

Walking over to my bead, I collapsed backward onto it; continuing my thoughts, '_And by the way Naminè's parents and mine, even ourselves, hit it off most like likely I won't have any time to arrange me and Kairi to be together because I'll be engaged to Naminè. I guess, if anything, I'm glad it would be someone I was at least friends with. If it were any other princess that my parents had arranged before I would have disowned my kingdom; as much as I hate to say it.'_ I sighed aloud again before allowing myself to slowly drift into slumber.

Waking up, I sat up and stretched my arms out with a loud yawn. "Finally, you're up. Princess Naminè wanted to ask if you could escort her into town today; but that was hours ago and she didn't want me to wake you up." The head maid, and also my second mother, stated as she dusted off my dresser; probably waiting for me to leave so she could get to the rest of the room.

"Oh, sure…" I answered drowsily, sinking down into the bed again and beginning to doze off.

"I do think that answer was meant for her and not me." Glenda commented in an impatient tone.

Eyes shooting open, I answered, "Right, right; sorry."

Shaking her head at me, now with a smile, she stated, "You still seem exactly the same as you were when you were five years of age, sometimes. It's hard to believe that you're going to be a king soon."

"I think my mother would agree with that statement," I muttered sourly, adding a sigh as I sat up; dangling my legs over the side of the bed.

"I didn't mean it like _that_," Her eyes widened in apology as she placed a hand on my shoulder, "I know how much you've matured; I'm just stating that you have moments that it seems like nothing's changed. It's not that bad, really; I rather like the reminiscing."

"Thanks," I gave a slight laugh; jumping down and walking towards my dresser, I replied, "I'll get out of your way now."

"You weren't in my way, I just wanted to make sure you didn't leave that poor girl waiting for too long," She practically shoved me out the door after I had changed, "Good luck!"

Before I had the chance to reply, the door was shut in my face. Turning around, I forced a smile and muttered to myself, "Hah, right." Heading out into the courtyard, I found her laying on a bench; staring at the sky with her blonde hair splayed out. Feeling myself blush at the sight of her, I took a moment to look away and regain my composure, then calling her, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Princess Naminè."

Looking over and beginning to sit up, she giggled, "You needn't be so formal; just call me Naminè. And don't worry about it, it's fine."

"Still, I'm sorry," I repeated, glancing at the front gate and asking, "Shall we go now?"

Walking towards town there was an awkward silence except for when she would stray off path because she was focused on something else that caught her eye. The silence was obviously peaceful for her; in another world as she gazed at every detail that passed us by, but it was driving me insane. I gave a sigh of relief when I caught sight of the towns entrance, stating aloud, "Look; we're here."

"Already?" She asked in a tone that held disappointment. I nodded, holding back the urge to raise an eyebrow at her behavior, '_How could she possibly be disappointed from the fact that she doesn't get to see more trees, rocks, and bushes that look the same as all the ones we've passed?'_

Noticing my frown, she stated, "This does look lovely, though."

"I guess it's ni--_ah!"_ I exclaimed as my foot caught on a tree root and caused myself to lose balance; managing to land on top of Naminè, lips touching.

Hearing a "Hmph!" and a rush of footsteps, I mentally groaned, '_Oh, no…Kairi…'_ Quickly jumping up and apologizing, I stuttered, "Uh, I-I'm going to find this place. See if they're still in town…" With that, I dashed off to begin to search for Kairi.

Hearing slight sniffling and a mumble of, "Stupid Sora…" I turned to see her.

I took gentle steps towards her. "Kairi…" I trailed off in a soft tone.

Her head shot up, tears freshly fallen upon her cheeks; she answered, "Oh, why are you even bothering with _me_ now that you have someone that you can be with without worrying about being caught and beheaded?"

"Kairi, you walked in at a bad time--"

She gave a harsh laugh, "_A bad time_? Oh, I'd say so too if I were you. But I know now, Sora; you don't have to keep pretending like you still love me."

"I tripped over a tree branch! I didn't _want_ to land that way!" I exclaimed; a bit infuriated that she would even think such a thing.

"Of course," She replied with a roll of her eyes as she wiped away stray tears with the back of her head.

"Stop _assuming _things!" I yelled back at her, losing my temper. Seeing her eyes begin to well up again as she looked up at me, I felt immense guilt fill my body. Kneeling to her level, I spoke softly and stared directly into her sapphire eyes, "I love you, Kairi, and I don't want you to ever doubt that. I'd do anything to be with you, and you _know_ that. Let's meet tonight, please? If you still need to me to prove that I love you, I'll do it tonight."

Looking away so that her eyes would make no contact with mine, she answered, "We'll see."

Taking both of her hands with my thumbs, I asked again, "Please?"

Raising her head to look up at me, she repeated in a more firm tone, "We'll see."

Closing her eyes with a light grin, I answered, "Okay." '_And you said _I _had to be difficult…' _First kissing her hands so that she wouldn't be hesitant as I advanced, I then kissed her forehead, cheek, and finally lips with only a small amount of resistance that was quickly stopped, though she never gave me the pleasure of kissing me back.

Breaking away, my frown was evident as Kairi laughed at the torture she was putting me through. "Sorry," She apologized with a sincere smile as her bout of laughter quickly ended. Seeing as her slightly bloodshot eyes, although her company wasn't much pleasurable at the particular moment, I did not want to leave her but I knew Naminè was waiting for me.

Still clasped onto her hand, I stated, "I'd better go…"

"Okay." She immediately withdrew her hands and stared at me, waiting for my departure.

Blinking a bit, I trailed out, "Goodbye…"

Only making it a few feet away, she called my name, "Sora." Turning around, she motioned for me to move back toward her. Stopping in front of her, she jumped up. Raising an eyebrow at her, she then latched her arms around my neck and slightly pressed against me as she kissed me; I not getting a chance to return the favor by the time she broke away because of the surprise of it.

"Don't assume that means I'm coming tonight," She warned before releasing me and walking away. I stood there and gaped for at least another two minutes or so; dazed by her actions. Returning to Naminè, I could now clearly see that she was a dull comparison to Kairi in every way; even as lovely as she was.


	6. Unexpected News

**Hey guys. This is pretty short and took forever because my sister got into a motorcycle accident and I had to fly to Pennsylvania ASAP. Don't worry; she's doing really well now. She had a broken leg and had a lot of road rash but that's it so she was really lucky. I'm back in North Carolina now and all is well. **

**I also got to see a black curtain screening of "Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix". It comes out July 11****th**** and I just saw it on June 28****th****. I feel special, haha. Thank you, Myspace Black Curtain Screenings for coming to North Carolina.**

**Um, okay so yeah. So now that I've told you a few bits of my personal life I'll let you read now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts in any form or way; I just waste a large amount of my money on KH products on ebay.**

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED: Chapter Six

I did feel sorry about not going out to meet Sora, I really did. But all I could think about was him "falling" onto that girl. If he was lying about it then this punishment maybe would knock him to his senses. If he wasn't lying, then I suppose it's a good warning to not _start_ doing things intentionally. I, thank God, was free of my suitor after that bedroom incident. Which of course made me feel even more guilty because I now could have snuck out with much more ease.

'_He can deal with it.'_ A voice in my head reassured that my decision was not rash. Sighing, I seated myself in front of my desk, running a brush through my hair. The sound of rock beneath shoes rang in my ear and caused me to whirl around to my window. With the only light being a torch, it was almost impossible to see what could possibly be lurking outside. My breath caught in my throat as a shadowed figure crawled through the window. I opened my mouth to scream but quickly shut it as the figure called, "Kairi!"

Recognizing the voice, I immediately jumped up and exhaled the large amount of air I held in my mouth, then exclaimed, "Sora! You scared me half to death!" Taking a moment to pause, I then gave an outburst, "Are you _crazy_!? Climbing up the fencing! You could have fell off and died! Or been caught by guards! What are you _doing_ here?"

Raising a finger to his lips in an attempt to lower my volume, he answered, "Well, you didn't show up and I promised to prove to you that I love you, so I kind of felt _obligated_…"

"I warned you before that I might not have came," I placed a hand against my forehead in frustration, "Oh, Sora, what am I going to do with you…"

Gently and loosely placing his hands at my sides, he replied, "Cooperate with me."

"Oh, no, that will _never_ work." I answered in a bit of a sarcastic tone with a shake of my head. Sora nudged me towards the end of the bed, causing me to fall backwards. He looming over me with a sly smile upon his face, he spoke, "Oh well; makes the night more enjoyable."

My heart skipping a beat at the suggestiveness of his statement, I asked, "_What_?"

Taking a seat beside me and resting his hand against my cheek, he answered, "I couldn't think of anything better than to be close to you. You trust me, right?"

With a bit of a shaky laugh, I replied, "Yes, but I certainly wasn't expecting _this_."

Then kneeling over me to look me in the eyes, he asked with a worried expression, "Are you okay with it? We don't have to if you're not comfortable with the idea right now."

Taking a moment to pause and think, no thoughts seemed to register. There was so many thoughts going on at once that it was impossible to just think of one to settle an answer. I figured, '_I've done every other possible thing that could disgrace my parents and myself, so why not? And I love Sora; I don't want to disappoint him either._' Finally I gave an awkward smile and answered, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked again; his head so close to my forehead that I could feel his bangs brushing against my forehead.

Nodding, I replied, "I am a little frightened to be truthful, but I'll get over it."

"Just tell me if you're uncomfortable." He stated as he straddled my hips. Giving a murmur of agreement, he kissed my lips and proceeded with a slow trail of kisses down to the neckline of my night gown. Stopping and looking up with raised eyebrows, he asked in a now slightly husky voice, "Last time I'm asking; you're sure about this?"

Rolling my eyes a bit, I answered, "Yes, Sora." Taking advantage of his lust-filled expression, I also added on as I thrust my hips into his, "Now, come on. I can see how much you're _dying_ to take me."

Closing his eyes and muffling a grunt, he answered, "You have no idea." And with that, Sora proceeded to give me his promise of showing his love; to spare you the gory details.

Three months passed by after that night and Naminè still remained in Sora's kingdom, but there was still no word of any kind about a wedding. Needless to say, Sora and I had quite a few more 'nightly encounters' since it was easier not to be caught meeting after dark. And I thanked God for the semi-long hallway to my room behind the tapestry because it kept the noise inaudible to the guards and maids. That was the least of my worries at the moment, however. What I was worried about was that I hadn't exactly been feeling my greatest for the past couple of weeks. Nausea, stomach pains…haunted my everyday life and refused to go away. Knowing these symptoms were signs of pregnancy, I finally decided that I needed to see a midwife. Obviously somewhat far outside of my kingdom so that I would not be recognized and have rumors…or facts, spread.

"I really don't want have to tell Sora this…" I trailed off to Selphie as I absent mindedly ran a brush through my hair.

Taking a seat beside me and giving a concerned look, she answered, "You're going to have to say _something_, Kairi; especially if you _are_." Noticing my grimace, she added, "Which hopefully you're not."

"How in the world are you suppose to bring something like that up in conversation? 'Oh by the way, Sora, I may be bearing your child.'" I finished in a sarcastic tone, receiving a giggle from Selphie.

After getting a stern look from me, she replied, "Sorry. I don't know but you're going to have to get it out somehow. I think it's best if you start the conversation. You know, like 'We need to talk.' instead of waiting for a pause in casual conversation."

"Yes, you're right. But how am I suppose to get to tell him that? The only time I see him is when he sneaks up here." I continued my questioning; lowering my voice at the realization that a maid or guard could walk in at any moment.

Following suit, Selphie lowered her voice, "Just go into town everyday; he's bound to be there sometime. Especially with that princess hanging around."

"That'll stir my parents suspicion, though." I sighed in defeat. Everything seemed hopeless.

With a small smile, Selphie answered, "Since when has shopping caused suspicion towards a girl?"

Brightening up a bit, it was hard not to with Selphie's bubbly personality, I replied, "I guess you're right."

My enthusiasm would not last for long, however. After forcing Riku to walk with me out of town to visit a midwife, my worst fear was confirmed. Though it was awkward confessing to Riku, I was glad he was there to comfort me and get me through the hardest phase; discovery. At least, I _hoped _it was the hardest. Luckily for me, one thing today _did_ go right. I would not have to do as Selphie suggested, going into town everyday, because I spotted him and Naminè heading past the entrance.

"Riku!" I gave a harsh whisper and nudged his arm.

"Ow! _What_?" He gave me a slight glare after he whirled around.

Nodding my head in the direction of the town, I merely said, "Sora."

"Why don't you go get him?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because he's with Naminè, and that would be blatantly obvious. Besides, I can't talk to him right now. I think I'd have an emotional breakdown. I need a little time to calm down before I talk to him. Tell him to meet me tonight; and _don't_ tell him anything, Riku. I have to be the one to say it to him." I finished my commands in a pleading tone.

"I hate when you do that." Riku answered then turned around, proceeding into town.

With a small smile, I replied, "Sorry." He shrugged and continued to walk until he was out of sight. I then sighed and collapsed against a tree, '_What a day this is…How am I suppose to tell him this? Any dark secrets would be fine but something that's suppose to be happy news? No, not at all. Everything we did to keep our relationship from our parents will all be blown away and gone pretty soon. I could say it's Axel's baby but then most likely I would have to be married off to him right away so that my family wouldn't be shamed. And even if I did resort to that, what if the baby had brunette hair? What would I say then?_'

"Kairi." Riku's firm tone knocked me out of my thoughts.

Blinking a bit, I replied, "Yes?"

"He said he would." He confirmed as he crossed his arms with impatience.

With a bit of a laugh, I commented, "Please don't tell me you asked him in front of Naminè."

Giving a slight scowl, he answered, "Do I really look that idiotic to you? No, I didn't."

"I was just joking, Riku." I replied as I placed my hand on his shoulder, "I'm already having a bad day, as you know' I don't want you to be on a sour note with me too."

"I'm not angry with you, Kairi. Stop worrying." Riku sighed.

"…Anyway, thank you a lot for your help today, Riku. I couldn't have survived without you." I replied as I began to walk forward, his foosteps following about a split second later.

He muttered in response, "It was nothing."

The rest of the walk to the castle no words escaped from either of our mouths. To a stranger it would seem as if we were fighting, but in reality it was only because there was nothing to be said. Dinner came and passed with only a few words uttered between my parents and I. Not that it was a rare occasion, but tonight it seemed more awkward than usual; but most likely it was just my imagination.

Finally, after waiting countless hours lying in my bed, the moment of truth had arrived.

"Couldn't live without me, eh?" Sora commented playfully as he climbed in through the window and dropped to the floor.

Giving a forced smile, I answered, "If only the reason were that simple."

With a tilt of his head, he sat down at the edge of my bed and questioned, "What is it? You're not worried about getting married, are you? My and Naminè's parents haven't said anything about official plans yet so I still have plenty of time to arrange something for us--"

I interrupted his babbling with a shake of my head, replying, "It is slightly about marriage, but not anything you're thinking about."

"What is it, then?" He asked in a curious, yet worried tone.

Sighing and falling back onto my pillow, I asked very casually to make it seem like a girlish fantasy, "What do you think about having children?"

Lying down backwards too, he stared at the ceiling as he recited his thoughts aloud, "I think it'd be great. A little rough at moments, but still worth it. It'll especially be rough if they're anywhere close to being as rebellious as us." He finished with a laugh, I managing to laugh along with him too for a moment. Turning his head to face me, he then asked the inevitable question, "Why?"

Inhaling a large amount of air and opening my lips to talk, I only managed to closed them again and exhale through my nose. After a few more awkward attempts to speak, I finally burst into tears. Sora shot up, placing his hands lightly on my shoulders as the concern from eyes shone in the moonlight, "Kairi, what's wrong?" Only managing to get out the words 'I' and 'I'm' in my sobbing, Sora stated, "Kai, I can't help you if I don't understand what's bothering you."

"I know; I'm sorry." I answered in sniffles, letting a few more pass by before stating with a cracking voice, "Sora, I'm pregnant."

His face and movements then ceased; obviously not knowing how to reply to such a situation. "Are you…Are you sure?" His eyes were filled with such fear; it was so unnatural and caused me to freeze myself. I had _never _seen this side of him before.

I nodded solemnly, "I went to the midwife today…" Nodding in response, he then buried his face in his hands. Eyes tearing up again, I bit my lip as I waited for his next sentence. Would he possibly _leave _me for this? My heart sunk even farther in my chest than I thought humanly possible. '_He wouldn't_…' I told myself even though I didn't feel quite so sure at this point.

My attention diverting back to Sora, he removed his hands from his face and unveiled a small smile which made my heart rise back into it's normal place, "I can't believe it…I'm going to be a father."

"You're not mad?" I outburst in surprise.

"Mad? Why would I be _mad_? It's not the best timing in the world, but this is one of the most amazing things that could happen to us, Kairi." He gathered me into his arms and kissed my forehead as to say 'I'm sorry for scaring you like that.'

"I'm so glad you feel that way, Sora," I finally let out a bout of nervous giggles, "I felt I was going to die of fright."

Stroking the side of my face with his thumb, he replied, "I noticed; but don't worry about it. I did too, as you saw." Laughing in response, he flashed his heartwarming grin before frowning with a sigh, "I probably need to go…It's getting late."

Giving a disappointed sigh, I answered, "Alright. Well, goodnight; I love you."

"Goodnight, I love you, too," He kissed my lips before moving down to my stomach, kissing the fabric of my dress and adding, "And you."

Sora and I exchanging one last grin, he proceeded out the window and down the fencing. Feeling a bit strange and familiar, I placed my hand on my stomach and asked aloud, "How did we ever get so lucky as to have that man as your father?" Blushing at the fact that I had just spoke to an undeveloped baby inside me, I then turned over and decided it was time to go to sleep.


	7. Wedding Bells

**Be very happy that I'm updating for I'm forsaking my precious read Harry Potter 7 time. Anyways, oh yes, finally a long chapter that didn't take to long to write! …Well, okay, maybe it kind of did. But it felt like a short time because of how rushed my past week was. Anyways, hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts series.**

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED: Chapter Seven

X.o.X

'_Was I dreaming?'_ I asked myself as I eyed my chamber with a tired stare. Rolling up my pants legs and catching sight of the scratches from Kairi's fencing, I grinned. "It was real…" Looking upward and closing my eyes, I murmured, "I really am a father…"

"What, young master? I didn't quite hear you." A maid asked, diverting my attention and quickening my heartbeat by several paces.

With a bit of a nervous laugh, I answered, "Oh, it's nothing. Just ranting out loud about my father; don't mind me."

Managing to fool her, she replied, "_Ah;_ I see. Well, make sure you get up soon. You don't want to be late to lunch or else there will be even more reason for ranting."

Jumping out of bed, I replied, "I will." With a nod she left the room. Exhaling deeply in relief, I collapsed back onto the bed. '_Thank God she didn't hear me.'_ I stated; this time mentally so that I did not allow another mishap.

By the time I was done dressing and walked down to the entrance hall, it was time for lunch. While the kings chatted about recent events in the kingdom and the queens babbled about the latest fashions, Naminè and I did not speak a single word to each other. Instead we gave occasional awkward smiles to each other across the table. Seeing the servants walk in with plates of food caused us both to give sighs of relief. With the food, there was no excuse to _not_ have a conversation.

Only allowing everyone several bites into their meals, Naminè's mother commented on her daughter's actions of picking at the food instead of eating it, "Eat up, dear. You don't want to lose weight; you've got to fit into that wedding gown on Saturday."

A piece of meat then managed to lodge itself in my throat. Throwing a bit of a coughing fit, I then repeated, "_Saturday_?" Squinting slightly at both of my parents, I asked, "And when were you planning on telling me this?"

"Today, dear." My mother answered in a firm tone, asking with a questioning stare, "You don't have a problem with the arrangements, do you?"

Feeling everyone's stares bore into me, I raised my hands up and exclaimed, "No, no! It's just that I would like to know the date of something as important as my own wedding _ahead_ of time. I was only saying it seems a bit sudden."

Naminè then spoke quietly, "If you want to push the date back a little, it's fine with me."

Giving a grateful smile, I turned to her, "It's fine." She gave a small grin back, a flush upon her cheeks. I had to turn away from the guilt I felt. I was using her; there was no other way of putting it. I was using her to cover up my real romance from my parents and it was simply unfair. I loved her as a friend but she adored me in a way that I cannot return. That time our lips touched; I felt nothing at all, even though, in a way, I kind of wished that I would have. With Kairi, I got that tingling sensation before our lips manage to touch at all. I knew from the beginning that I could not _love_ Naminè, but I hoped there at least would have been some sort of attraction. I mean, she's beautiful; angelic, even. But she just was not Kairi.

'_Today's Monday…_' I trailed off mentally, continuing to eat absentmindedly while the others chatted amongst themselves, '_So I'll plan for Kairi and me to be married on Wednesday. Then hopefully I'll find some way out of Saturday's event…_' Occasionally nibbling on my food while I made plans in my head, I finally came to a decision.

Pushing the chair out, standing, and pushing it back in, I declared, "Excuse me, but I'm going to go into town."

Naminè's silverware immediately dropped from her hand, exclaiming, "Oh! Can I come, too?"

"Sorry, but I want it to be a surprise," I lied with a fake grin plastered upon my face. Then I moved towards my parents, asking them in a whisper, "You did purchase the rings already, I presume?"

Nodding, my mother replied, "It's taken care of."

"Good." I commented, then stood straight up again to announce, "Well, I'm off then." Exiting with a small wave to everyone, and seeing the pleasure on my parents' faces from how 'decent' I was acting brought a small scowl to my face once I turned around. The one time they're happy for me is the time where I'm telling lies.

I was going into town, yes, but certainly not for something to buy for Naminè. Instead, I was going to find the friar to make arrangements for my and Kairi's wedding. Then I'd return home for dinner, wait a couple of hours after dark, then I'd have to sneak into Kairi's room and walk back home again. '_Phew, the things I do for Kairi._' I sighed with a smile, '_I'm going to be exhausted tomorrow._' Walking into town did not take long nor feel tiring, but I knew by the time I made it back to the castle the exercise would start to take it's toll.

"Hello?" I called out as I entered the Friar's building. Walking a little farther and finding him at his desk, engulfed in the world of a book, I gave a light tap on the wall, "Erm, excuse me?"

Jumping a little, the friar closed his book and looked up at me, "I apologize for not being more alert."

"It's alright." With a small pause, I added, "You're Friar Ansem, correct?"

"Indeed," He nodded, then stood and asked, "And what may I do for you, young prince?"

Biting my lip for a moment, I replied, "Wedding arrangements, actually."

With a laugh at my nervous actions, he stated, "You needn't worry about that. The King and Queen have already visited here."

"I'm talking about a different wedding." I looked away, embarrassed because now I was going to have to admit all my sins to a holy man, "I don't love Princess Naminè; the wedding is merely a plan devised my parents. I can't live a lie for the rest of my life. I need arrangements for Wednesday so that I can marry the girl I truly love before it's too late."

Squinting his eyes a bit at my confession, he asked, "And who would this girl be?"

"…Princess Kairi." I held my breath.

His eyes widened in surprise first, but then he gave a small smirk, "Princess Kairi. Interesting, how very interesting that two born enemies would be come lovers."

Blinking, taken back by his reaction, I replied, "Y-yes. Ironic, isn't it?"

"Very much so." He closed his eyes in thought for a moment before walking back towards his desk. Sitting down and dipping a quill in ink, he looked up at me again, "You are sure you are ready to sacrifice your whole life to be with this princess?"

"Y-yes." I stuttered again; with each new subject, the words out of Friar Ansem's mouth would become more and more surprising.

Scratching something down on parchment, he stated, "The arrangements are made."

Watching him open up his book and begin to read again, I exclaimed, "Thank you!" Merely raising his hand in reply, I took that as a sign to leave. '_That was easier than I expected_.' I commented mentally as I walked out into the daylight.

Wincing for a moment from the brightness, I continued on my way back home; a wide smile upon my face. During dinner no one questioned my jubilant attitude, assuming it was about the arranged wedding. Naminè even spoke quite a bit, overjoyed at my supposed reaction. Of course, that caused another pang of guilt to surface but nothing could bring me down at the moment. In fact, I was in so much of a daze that I almost simply strolled across the courtyard of Kairi's castle without looking for any signs of guards. Thank God I caught myself after a few steps.

Finally making it through the window without managing to kill myself, I found her to be sleeping. Kneeling beside her bed, I surveyed her crimson hair splayed across the pillow and the soft rise and fall of her breathing. I held in a gasp and blushed; silently thanking God for having her. Shaking off my thoughts, I remembered my goal to talk to her and reached out my hand to wake her. An inch away, I quietly retreated my hand.

'_How can she look even more beautiful when she's sleeping_?' I questioned with an amused smirk. Knowing I needed to talk to her, I finally began to try and wake her up. "Kairi," I called softly as I lightly shook her.

Closing her eyes tighter, she muttered, "Hmm…"

"Kairi, it's Sora."

Eyes shooting open, but squinting at my shadow red figure, she replied, "…Sora? What are you doing here?"

"Our wedding's going to be on this Wednesday…" I gave a pause, seeming like I was done with my explanation.

"Oh, that's nice…" Kairi smiled, closing her eyes and quickly drifting back to sleep.

Shaking her again, I asked, "_Kairi_. Did you hear what I just said?"

"Yes, our wedding is to--" She started in a groan, but quickly bolted upward as her mind comprehended the statement, "Wait. _This_ Wednesday?"

I nodded, "Yes. My parents finally told me that Naminè and I are to be wed on Saturday. Well, it was really Naminè's parents that told me…But that's besides the point."

"What are you going to do about Saturday?" She asked worriedly, clutching her blanket with both hands.

"That's another thing I need to talk to you about…" I dragged out for as long as possible, "You see, I don't really intend of returning to my castle after Wednesday."

Her eyes widened immensely at this, "Sora, you can't _possibly_ be planning on hiding in here--" 

"I'm not." I interrupted.

"Then what--"

"That shack." I interjected yet again.

Kairi's eyes shone with worry in the moonlight, "But that man that saw us there…What if he still checks for us?"

"I highly doubt that. If he even did check on that shack, he would have given up by now; it's been quite a few months." I reassured her, adding, "And he was obviously drunk. He probably has no memory of where that was at all."

"I suppose…" She agreed, but still bit her lip.

Kissing her forehead, I apologized, "I'm sorry everything's happening so fast; I didn't want it to be like this." Placing a hand on her stomach, I continued, "And the shack is only temporary. You don't really think I was planning on raising a family in _that_ thing, do you?"

Giggling, she replied, "No, not really."

Giving a smile and retreating my hand, I recited my plan, "I'll go into town tomorrow and buy some things to make the shack more comfortable. Give Riku some of your things in a knapsack or something like that and tell him to meet me."

"Alright." She answered, then gave a yawn.

Laughing as I stood, I commented, "Well, I guess I'd better go if I want to get anything accomplished tomorrow." I then whined, "Lucky you; you get to sleep in."

"Haha," She stuck her tongue out at me in response.

Swooping down to kiss her for a quick moment, I broke away with the comment, "You should know better than to do that around me." She rolled her eyes at me but still smiled. "You know you love it." I flashed a grin, kissing her cheek and adding, "Goodnight."

Lifting her head, she stared at me expectantly; I taking a moment before I realized I was suppose to lower my head back towards hers. Sharing another kiss, she repeated, "Goodnight." With a final wave, I retreated out and down the window.

After making my way back to my own castle, I was so exhausted that as soon as my head touched the pillow I was fast asleep. The next day I woke up near noon and decided I would just buy a snack in town instead of bothering to sit down and eat with my family and my supposed soon-to-be family. They held no objection of me going into town again; obviously expecting me to shower Naminè in gifts the day of the wedding. Their clueless-ness of the real situation almost made me laugh every time they mentioned Saturday.

On my way out the door towards town, my father hurried past me with a harsh whisper, "You are going to shatter that poor girl's heart."

Freezing in place and my mouth agape, by the time I had enough courage to face him he was already out of sight. '_So he knows…_' I clenched my fists and let out a loud groan, '_But how?_' Ignoring the various curious looks that the guards gave me, I continued on my way and on my thoughts, '_The only people that know are the friar, Riku, and most likely that friend of Kairi's_. _I would have noticed one of them arriving at our castle. Unless they came while I was talking to the friar, which would rule him out, or the during the time I was in Kairi's chamber, which was highly possible for anyone to have done.'_ I gave another sigh and kicked up dirt; a could of dust in my wake as I attempted to brighten my own mood, "Oh well, it won't matter in two days."

However, my mood stayed about the same as I traveled throughout the town to buy things for the old shack. Obviously I couldn't buy a mattress because I would have to drag it along the forest, so I had to buy soft material to create a make-shift bed. The merchants seemed to also think that I was going on a shopping spree for Naminè, which was fine with me because there was mostly no questioning.

Arriving at the shack with my supply of things, I could finally breathe air of relief when I spotted Riku. Dropping the last bags to the floor, I asked, "So, how've you been?"

"Fine," Beginning with his arms crossed and a serious expression, his lips cracked a smirk as he finished, "Except for I'm losing my swordsmanship skills due to lack of someone to challenge."

Laughing, I replied, "I'm sorry. I promise to challenge you sometime after all this attention is off me."

"Alright," He stood up straight and walked over to me, commenting as he place a hand on my shoulder, "Lucky man, you are."

Giving a small grin, I replied, "About as much as I can be." First pondering whether I should continue or not, I finally decided to keep talking, "For Kairi, I'm the luckiest man in the world. Every other aspect of my life, not so much."

Riku tilted his head with a raise of his eyebrow, "The baby?"

Eyes widening in shock that I forgot, I immediately threw up my hands and replied, "Oh, no! I'm lucky for the baby, too." I sighed and laughed a little too before replying, "It's still so new to me, you know?"

"I know how you feel." Riku nodded, crossing his arms again and closing his eyes as he laughed, "I'm still having trouble believing it myself." Receiving a raised eyebrow from me, he continued, "Kairi has always been like a younger sister to me. At first it was just a title from her father so that she wouldn't be paranoid of me following her around all the time but after all these years it feels like I actually am her older brother."

Nodding in response, I said, "Ah, I see."

"So you know what that means, do you?" Riku smirked again at my confused expression. Gripping the hilt of his word, he stated, "It means that if I ever hear anything about you hurting Kairi in any way, I'll have to kill you."

Giving a nervous laugh, I then replied, "Like I would want either to happen."

Laughing, he replied, "I know you wouldn't."

Glancing around the room for a moment and noticing the many unpacked bags, I commented, "Oh. I guess I need to start working on this."

Looking around the room himself, he replied, "I suppose I'd better be getting back, too. I left Kairi's things over there." His pointed finger diverted my eyes towards the corner to my right.

"Thank you," I answered as I walked past him towards the bags.

"And Sora," I whirled around to face him, he holding the door open to give his farewell, "Take care of her." With that, the door closed and cut-off any chance of me answering him.

Instead, I just replied to myself, "I will."

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful; I spent a few hours making the make-shift bed and chairs. The chairs were actually just logs piled up, so most likely I would be the only one using those and Kairi would just sit on the bed. Dinner was uneventful except for both sets of parents telling me that wedding planning was suppose to be tomorrow morning.

Getting little amount of sleep, I barely managed to make it through the wedding planning. With the rest of the day creeping by, I decided to attempt a nap and told a maid to wake me shortly before dinner. I of course ended up not getting any sleep. I was staring at the ceiling in thought when the maid had walked in, and I had thought I had several more hours to sleep. Then I was so anxious during dinner that I had to purposely eat very slow to not seem in a rush.

Finally, after all those years of waiting, it was time to sneak out of the castle and never return. I had the slightest guilt of betraying my parents but that was soon forgotten as I replayed my memories with them in my head. But most of all I felt guilty for making Kairi's life this way. I knew she wanted a big wedding with extravagant decorations and endless amounts of guests; or at least that's what she said a few years ago. Even if it wasn't the same now, I felt bad for being the one to ruin that dream.

I felt a little better after I saw her face; a glimmer of happiness in her eyes and smile that was obvious even in the poorly lit room. I didn't even notice the friar was there until he began talking, and even that was all a low rumble that I could not comprehend. And yet, somehow I managed to repeat the words that I was told. I also had to fight back the urge when I wanted to reach out and comfort Kairi so bad when she was tearing up as she read her words even though I knew they were tears of happiness. Friar Ansem finishing his speech and closing his book, I enveloped Kairi in a tight embrace; kissing her until I could breathe no more.

Taking a few moments to fix our cloaks and thank the friar, he warned, "Be careful."

"We will." I replied simply; giving Kairi a light push to continue forward. Studying Friar Ansem for a moment, it seemed impossible that he would possibly want to cause harm to either of us, but people would do anything for money and that included holy men.

"What was that about?" Kairi whispered curiously.

I shook my head, "It's nothing."

Placing my hand lightly at her back and leading her as we walked, she replied, "Okay…" With only the torch I held for light, the trip through the forest was very slow paced and caused both of us to jump from noises around us. After a few minutes of silence, Kairi started quietly, "Sora, you know how most wedding nights--"

"I know, it's fine." I looked back at her with a grin, "I've technically already had mine."

"And many times over." She added with a laugh and a shove, "You naughty boy."

Opening the door for her to go in the shack, I replied, "I'm a married man, now; you can't still call me a boy."

"Married to _me_," She replied, poking my chest, "which means I can call you whatever I like."

Raising an eyebrow and leaning closer to her face, I questioned, "Oh, really?"

Leaning towards me too, she retorted with a serious expression, "Yes, really." Staring each other in the eyes for a moment, we then both burst into laughter. I swiftly interrupted and took her lips for another kiss. Trailing down to her jaw line, I breathed against her neck, "I love you."

"I love you, too." She giggled her reply.

"We should probably get some sleep, now." I commented, raising my head up to look her in the eyes. She nodded, walking over to the bed and getting comfortable. Getting onto it myself, I noticed a slight discomfort of my back, "Sorry about the bed…I had to make it from scratch."

"It'll be fine." She answered, pressing her back against me; making me forget any discomfort I had before.

"Mm…" I sighed in pleasure and hoped she was as comfortable as I was, or else she would be complaining of back problems in the morning. Turning over to face me, she then buried her face in my chest. In return, I wrapped an arm around my new wife and held her tightly against me until I fell asleep.


	8. The War

**Let me tell you that writing and typing the words 'my husband' is one of the most AWKWARD things ever. I think it's just because I'm still young but, yeah haha. This updates actually kinda fast, I guess. I suppose it would have been faster if I hadn't randomly got obsessed with Shattered Dreams again lol. I've spent the last couple of days editing that since I've had writers block for this. I've had what's suppose to happen in this chapter planned out for forever; I just needed to find a way to put it into words.**

**Well, hey look! I finally did it. Yay for me.**

**Anyways, this is not the last chapter even though it kind of seems like it. I suppose if you like happy endings you can just pretend that this is the last chapter; that's a warning and a hint lol.**

**Hope you guys enjoy this.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KH; what a surprise.**

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED: Chapter Eight

X.o.X

_Knock, knock_.

Turning over, I gave a small groan of annoyance, "Mm…" not realizing that it was someone at the door.

_Knock, knock_.

The noise repeated; this time more rushed and urgent, causing my eyes to open wide. Shaking his shoulders to wake up, I whispered, "Sora, someone's outside."

"What?" He replied sleepily and a little too loud for my liking.

"_Shh_," I put a finger to my lips, then repeated, "There's someone outside the door."

Sora's body tensed as the knocking sounded yet again. This time it was accompanied by a familiar voice, "Sora, Kairi!"

Letting out a loud and relieved sigh, I exclaimed, "Riku!" Sighing too, Sora lazily got up and made his way toward the door. I yawned as I sat up, watching him open the door and Riku enter the shack. "What are you doing here so soon?" I questioned the older boy.

Giving a sheepish smile and scratching the back of his neck, he turned around slightly to answer, "I was banished."

My face automatically fell, I exclaiming, "I'm so sorry, Riku! I never meant to get you into trouble like this…"

He waved it off, "It doesn't matter." Closing his eyes and collapsing against the wall, he continued, "What you both _do_ need to worry about is the possibility of a war at the moment."

"_War_?" We both repeated.

Sora gave a scowl, crossing his arms and stating, "I thought my father knew, but I didn't think he'd act this soon…"

"That may be it, too, but Kairi's parents were tipped off by a citizen. Middle aged woman; I didn't recognize her." Riku stated after catching a glance at my and Sora's anxious expressions.

Racking his brains for a possible person, Sora then shook his head and replied, "I don't think I know anyone of that description that _knows_." He looked to me.

Biting my lip, I answered," I'm pretty sure no one heard me. Even if someone heard me talking to Selphie, it would have been a maid; who Riku would have recognized."

"Someone must have seen one of you in town one day and followed you, then." The silver headed boy stated.

Head hanging low, Sora replied, "I guess so."

Looking between the two boy's solemn faces, I stated, "Well, it doesn't matter now." Both turned to me as I finished, "We've got to do something before any real battle starts."

Raising an eyebrow, Riku questioned, "And what do you propose that we, the band of traitors, do?"

Standing up, I gave a serious expression but I quickly let it go as I exhaled, "I don't know…Talk to them."

This time, my husband answered, "Kairi, sorry to disappoint you, but I don't think talking is going to help."

"We've got to try," I walked past both of them to the door, opening it and turning back to finish, "Before any innocent blood is spilt over this." Sora and Riku glanced to each other, finally deciding that I was right, and walked to the door.

Once outside, Sora and I both headed in the direction of the town, causing Riku to star at us both, "Where are you going?"

"We'd have to intercept them that way," Sora pointed towards town.

"We have to get to that point, yes; but you don't seriously believe that we can just stroll through town at the current time, do you?" He questioned with a furrowed brow.

My face beginning to flush, I replied as I walked towards him, "I suppose not." I looked back to the brunette, he opening his mouth to speak but quickly shut it back again. Walking forward in silence for several minutes, I finally let out my thoughts, "You know, it's always been so obvious that this would happen; but I can't believe it now that it's actually _happening_."

Giving a small smile to me, Sora replied, "I can say the same." Riku nodded, keeping silent and continuing forward. Suddenly stopping and whirling around to face Sora, the brunette in front of me froze and caused me to walk into him.

"Ow," I muttered.

"Sorry," He glanced back to apologize.

Ignoring my mishap, Riku's expression was worried as he questioned, "Sora, you wouldn't happen to have your sword, would you?"

Letting out a small gasp and clenching his fists, he confessed, "I knew I forgot something when I was packing to leave the castle…"

Sighing and giving a sarcastic laugh, Riku commented, "Great to know we can't protect ourselves if anything goes wrong."

Biting my lip, I moved past the two and lied in a confident voice, "We'll be fine."

Snickering, my 'older-brother' commented in a low whisper to Sora, "Of course we'll be fine; everyone underestimates the power of Kairi when she's angry."

_Smack_. I whirled around faster than Riku could blink, surprising both of the boys. "I don't know about the armies," I clapped my hands together as if I were getting dust off, "But _you_ certainly have something to fear, Riku." Glancing to Riku's gaping and handprint marked face, Sora gave a laugh. Giving him a look, I added, "That goes for you, too."

Faking a gulp, he exclaimed, "Oh, no! I certainly wouldn't want my _wife_ beating me."

Rolling my eyes, I turned around and began to walk again, "You'd probably enjoy that, wouldn't you?" Pausing and turning back to them, I continued, "Let's just hope that we make it through today so that I can keep those promises."

Nodding solemnly, they both took their place on either side of me. Reaching the end of the woods and entering the field where we use to meet, I grabbed for Sora's hand and stated, "Well…Here we go,"

Staring down at me for a minute, he then leaned in for a kiss; his lips almost desperate as they moved against mine. Breaking away with a small smile, Sora commented, "Incase I don't get to do that later." Nodding and although I was smiling, I felt tears stinging at my eyes; thankfully I managed to not let any fall.

Glancing between Sora and me, Riku began to walk forward again, "Let's go, then."

"Okay." I replied as I followed him, pulling Sora along. Stopping in the middle of the field, both of the armies were in clear sight on opposite sides of the horizon. Now all there was left to do was wait.

Fifteen minutes passing by and neither kingdom's armies seemingly any closer, I let out a loud sigh and decided to sit down. Neither Riku or Sora seemed to notice my movement; both tense and on the edge, so I said jokingly, "Tell me when one of them gets here." As if I would not notice.

Not budging an inch or even seeming to comprehend what I said, Sora replied, "Okay." Shrugging it off, I placed my head in my hands. Hard to believe that I was bored when my life's end could be just a few minutes away. Not even just my own, but Sora and Riku; and the baby.

I looked up at Sora; his shoulders beginning to slump as he tried to relax somewhat. '_It seemed like everything we've worked for finally paid off yesterday._' I sighed again, '_How quickly that's passed. Now we have to deal with the fear of losing everything_.' I stood up, walking over to Sora and hugging him from behind; causing him to flinch.

Craning his neck over his shoulder to look at me, he asked, "What?"

"Just incase I don't get to later," I imitated his words, flashing a smile before continuing, "You need to relax. You too, Riku. No one will listen to us unless we're calm and sound like we actually know what we're talking about. If we're all tensed up and babble like idiots, that won't exactly give the best impression."

"Okay, okay," Riku replied, easing up his stance.

"Hey, let go for a second," Sora ordered in a soft tone. I obliged and stepped back, only to have his arms wrap around my waist. "There," He commented as he rest his chin on my shoulder. Hugging him back again, I looked up to catch Riku staring at us. When he made eye contact with me and saw me grinning, he quickly turned away.

I laughed, causing Sora to question, "What are you laughing at?"

Shaking my head, I replied, "It's nothing."

A few minutes of peaceful silence passed by before Riku cleared his throat, "They should be able to see us any minute."

Sora and I breaking our embraced, I asked, "Can you see a flag?"

The silver headed boy nodded, walking past us to face the opposite direction, "It's ours, this way."

"Okay." I replied as I turned around to stand beside Riku. Turning my head, I spoke to Sora, "I figure it'd be better if we spoke to our own kingdoms, at least to begin with." Nodding, he turned back around; his back lightly pressed against my own.

Staring at the troops and seeing them come to a sudden halt, I narrated, "They've stopped."

Riku nodded, "I see that."

"Do you think they've recognized us?" I questioned anxiously, the situation's reality finally beginning to set in.

"Probably not yet," He replied with a squint of his eyes, "But they won't attack until they do."

I merely nodded in reply, closely watching for any sort of change. Finally, they began to move again; but now at a much slower pace. It felt like forever waiting for the troops to finally make it somewhat close to us.

"Kairi?" My mother's called out in a desperate voice, somewhere among the crowd of people.

Clearing my throat first, I replied loudly, "Yes."

The troops remaining in place, my mother and father emerged from the sea of men; both a top their own horse. Mother was on the verge of tears by the look on her face. She cried out, "Oh, Kairi! We were _so _worried about you! Especially once we heard that _boy_ was missing, too--"

Cutting off the rest of her story, I had to comment, "That 'boy' you speak of is now my husband; therefore making him your son."

Both of their faces falling, my father merely replied, "So the rumors are true."

"What do you have against him? Tell me." I commanded; on the verge of tears because of the look of disappointment on my parent's faces. It always hurt to know that they disapproved, but it was now hitting me at full force.

"His parents--"

This is where I had to intervene again, "_Exactly_! His _parents_. Sora never has said a disrespectful word towards either of you; but yet, because of something his parents said, you shun and despise him." I cried out; trying to block out the sound of him talking with his family so that I could focus on my own.

Biting down on his lip, my father started, "Kairi, you don't understand."

"No, I don't understand." I replied coldly, continuing with a yell, "How can you be so _selfish_? How can you ignore how happy he makes me? I _love_ him."

"We know," My mother's tears were pouring down now, "But Kairi, dear, there will be other men…"

"_Other men_?" I repeated hysterically, the tears finally escaping from my eyes, "Did you not hear what I just said? I. Love. _Him_. And he loves me. Why would I possibly give that up?" Neither of my parents replied, only gave side glances to each other and occasionally towards me. I decided to keep speaking, "Just give him a chance. I promise he will not let you down."

"Give us a minute to think." My father grunted in reply, a hand clasped to his forehead.

Clapping my hands together in delight, I exclaimed, "Thank you!" My mother gave a weak smile to me before being pulled into the deep conversation. Hearing Sora let out a sigh of frustration, I looked to Riku, "Should I try to help him, or do you think that will make things worse?"

"I think you've gotten things settled on this side," Riku stated with a small smile, shrugging as he continued, "It can't make things too much worse." Nodding with an anxious smile, I slowly turned around to face Sora's parents and their troops.

His mother sneered at me as I looked to her, stating in what sounded like a cry, "I still can't believe you married that--that," She squinted her eyes at me as she paused to think of a word, finally hissing out, "_Whore_."

"How _dare_ you call her that," Sora retorted in a growl faster than I could react, finishing with, "When you, yourself are the only one deserving of that name. I know what you do when father's gone; I've seen you. Don't even try to deny it. I know you love having scandals about you passed around the kingdom because no one would ever expect it to be true, when it really is."

Mouth agape and receiving a questioning stare from her husband, the queen let out a loud gasp, "_You_!"

"No one insults the Queen!" A soldier cried out before firing off an arrow from his crossbow. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as I jumped in front of Sora. However, before I could shut my eyes and await the arrow to tear through my skin, a bright green light filled my vision for a split second.

The arrow gone from sight and everyone gaping, I looked down at my feet to see the arrow there; instead of through my chest.

As I looked up to Sora with a confused expression, he muttered, "The charm…"

"What?" I asked back; still in shock, much like everyone else around me.

"The charm I gave you," He repeated again in a whisper, "Remember I said the old lady who gave it to me told me that it was a ray of hope?"

A broad smile came across my face as I answered, "Yes. I remember, now."

"What is this _witchcraft_?" Sora's father yelled out to break the silence that lingered over the two kingdoms.

"It's not witchcraft," I answered loudly, turning back to face my own kingdom, "It's love."

"See what it can do when you truly feel it?" Sora continued my explanation.

Both of us switching sides, I stated, "You can believe us; or not believe us, if you like,"

"But you all know deep down what you just witnessed." He finished, both of us turning our heads back to grin at each other.

With a pause of silence, a cry of "I believe!" came from the troops on my side. Turning back around and squinting my eyes, I saw Selphie emerge from the group of people.

Grinning widely and hugging her, I replied, "Thank you…"

Sora nodded to himself before loudly announcing, "Step up if you have enough courage to admit that you know the truth." Maids from both sides quickly pored in as he finished his statement.

A few moments passed by with hugging and shaking hands before I noticed a woman with her young boy trying to approach us. They both seemed hesitant to speak to me, so I tugged at Sora's sleeve and inquired, "Who's this?"

Catching sight of the boy, he gave a grin, "This is Cedric and his mother; he defeated me in a swordfight, once."

Giggling, I turned and kneeled slightly to speak to the young boy, "Oh, did you now?" A blush creeping across his cheeks, he gave a quick nod.

"I believe," A light voice caused me to spin my head around; almost gaping as I saw Princess Naminè standing there timidly. All those times I wanted to rip her head off and she had been such a sweet girl; it almost made me want to cry.

"Thank you!" I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug, which she returned with a small and awkward one.

She stuttered in reply, "Y-you're welcome."

"Thank you," Sora repeated to her with a wide grin. She smiled back for a moment, a light shade of pink splayed across her cheeks before she moved off to talk to others.

A sudden silence overcoming the large amount of people, I imitated their actions as all of their heads turned towards my parents. Watching my father eagerly as he cleared his throat, he finally declared, "We…believe."

Letting out a squeal of delight, I latched myself onto my husband; both of us spending a moment to take in the joy and relief before turning our attention to his family. Frowning at the retreating troops, already half way out of sight, Sora trailed off, "They're leaving…"

Frowning myself, I gingerly placed a hand upon his shoulder and said softly, "I'm sorry, Sora…"

Shaking his head and turning around with a smile, he wrapped an arm around my waist and looked around at everyone as he replied, "It's alright. I never really considered them as my _real_ family, any way. My real family's all right here."

Receiving cheers from the crowd around us, I smiled as I stated, "Let's go home."

"Home." He repeated with a nod and a wide grin, making our way up towards my parents.


	9. Life and Death

**So, I'm finally done with my third chaptered fanfic. I really don't know what to say…lol this fanfic was so fun to write; again I must say how much I love medieval fics. I'm sorry I took so long to update; I've just started my second year of high school. I'm so far having a good year and hope that continues. Well, aside from the massive writers block I had lol everything else has been great. I hope you don't hate me for the few twists in this chapter, though one should have sort of been expected…**

**Anyways, thank you for all the support & you're the best reviewers a person could ask for. I love you all!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, yeah, yeah. **

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED: Chapter Nine

The first months in the castle were neither as easy or as complicated as I thought they would be. Kairi's parents were still a little unsure of what to make of my presence. When I was with Kairi, they were all smiles and polite, but when I was alone it was still very awkward. I could tell they were warming up to me, though; the conversations were becoming less forced, and instead of disapproving stares they now more of watched me in curiosity.

I had to admit it was always going to be awkward talking to Kairi's father, especially considering the fact that I had to argue with him about where I was to sleep when I first arrived. After Kairi gave a speech about how she was now married and an adult, he gave up in a mutter and stalked off. Ever since then I had been careful to show only a certain amount of affection towards Kairi in his presence, and it seemed to be pleasing him.

I had not really had to worry about that lately due to the fact that Kairi hardly went out of our room anymore, her pregnancy almost at it's end. That subject had been another awkward conversation with her parents. I thought that we should have just let it become obvious and pretend that it was new news to us too. Kairi, however, wanted to be completely honest with her parents. I guess it was her way of repaying them for accepting me, but it was horrible being put on the spot like that; even if it was both of us and not just me.

Kairi's mother did not really say much to me at all, but she really was my ally. She often gave apologetic and comforting smiles whenever it was obvious that her husband's words had gotten to me in any way. She was also always the one to warn us when he wanted to have a conversation, also known as yelling match or arguing, with either one or both of us. It was actually sort of amusing how alike she was with Kairi personality wise.

Turning my head over to face my crimson haired angel, I laughed at her pose; her hand hanging over her forehead as if she fell back in exhaustion and fell asleep like that. Reaching a hand over the pillows to twist my fingers through her hair, I again wondered how I ever deserved someone so beautiful; swollen stomach and all. Seeing her eyes flutter open in a yawn, I muttered, "Good morning."

"Hello," She replied, attempting to turn over but instead groaning with both hands at her stomach, "I can't wait for this thing to be _out_."

"You say that now, but in reality it would be much more stressful." I pointed out, smiling as I brushed my hand against her cheek.

"Yes, but then it wouldn't only be me suffering." She giggled in reply.

"How kind." I stated with a laugh; thankful that, for now, I could still have a good night's sleep.

"I know." She flashed a smile, our conversation then interrupted by the creaking open of the door. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Kairi called out, "Hello?"

"It's me," Selphie slipped in through the door, leaving it open.

Grinning again, Kairi apologized to the girl as she neared the bedside, "Sorry I've yet to sit up. I don't feel like I have the strength to do anything these days, with the exception of eating."

Giggling as she took her place in the chair beside the bed, she answered, "It's okay." Looking over to me, Selphie added, "By the way, the King said he wanted to speak with you."

Wrinkling my nose at this and sitting up, I sighed, "I wonder what I've done wrong now."

"I'm sure it's nothing, Sora." Kairi frowned at my assumption. True, he did not always call on me to give a lecture or argue, but three times out of four that _was_ the case.

"I certainly hope so. I'm not much in the mood to have a yelling match today." I answered as I jumped out of bed and started towards the door.

"I'm not in the mood to shut both of your stubborn mouths, either." Kairi replied with an annoyed tone.

Turning from the door to flash a smile, I stated, "I'll try to be on my best behavior."

"Good." She nodded with a smile of her own, still laying down.

Giving a slight wave, I closed the door and headed to the maid's quarters to change into today's clothes. When I first moved into the castle, the maids insisted on dressing me themselves; like I was still five years of age. I had to tell them many times that I was use to dressing myself before they finally gave up their attempts.

Quickly exiting after I had finished changing, I headed towards the main hall where I assumed Kairi's father was waiting for me. Indeed, he was there; an expression that held regret and worry upon his slightly wrinkled face.

Blinking a bit, I trailed out, "Your Majesty?" I had never conjured up enough courage to actually call him father. He would probably want to tear my head off for it, anyway.

"Ah, Sora." I held back a look of surprise as he turned around to face me. He never called me by my name unless Kairi was in his presence; and even then it seemed drawn out and unnatural.

"You called for me?" I questioned, trying to hide the nervousness that threatened to overtake my calm tone.

"Yes," He turned and walked towards the door leading to the courtyard, finishing, "I hope you don't mind talking a walk with me. I have confessions that need to be said."

"A-alright." I replied as I hurried out behind him, stunned by his words. '_Confessions? What could he possibly mean by that?_' My mind raced with possibilities, all very unlikely.

"You obviously know we have had a grudge against your family for some time now." He started, I giving a nod in response and he continuing, "You of course have never been told the reason for that, have you?"

Furrowing my brow, I answered, "I've just always accepted it as a fact; I never really thought about the reasoning behind it."

Both of us continuing to walk forward, Kairi's father began again, "I haven't treated you fairly these few months. Not because of your parents, but because I knew that you and Kairi were messing around for so long and I had been so blind about it. More than that, the fact that you two became married without word to hardly anyone." Pausing and biting his lip, he finished, "Kairi grows older with each passing day, but to me she will always be that defenseless little girl."

Taking in his words and feeling a pang of guilt knowing that I realistically took her from him in a way, I asked abruptly, "…Not to be rude, but what does this have to do with the grudge against my parents?"

"Right," He answered, I noticing even the way he _walked _clearlyshowed power and authority as he explained, "I was wrong to treat you like I did for sneaking around with Kairi when I, myself, am guilty of doing the same thing. I did not have a forbidden lover, but I was betrothed to Kairi's mother since birth. Though I've come to accept the marriage now, I certainly did not agree when I was a young man. Thus, I became connected with your mother."

My mouth fell open at this statement, asking, "_What_?"

"I thought that reaction would come from you." His expression was smug but fell once again as he added on to this story, "Of course I promised her that she would be the one I married and all sorts of other impossible things. When she learned I was not going to call off my engagement, she became enraged. She did not want to be the one always in the shadows; she needed to be known and envied by all. Once I was married, I did not hear another word from her, but I did learn that she married the very next prince to arrive as soon as she could; your father. After you both were born and met each other, you know the story from there."

"Wow," I let out breathlessly, my lips still parted in awe of the King's confession, "I certainly would have never guessed _that_ story."

"Most wouldn't," He replied, both of us now stopped and facing each other, finishing with a smile of gratitude, "I must thank you for keeping your promises with my daughter. Not that it was a mistake _not_ to marry your mother."

Smiling a bit in amusement, I answered, "I understand your point, but I can't just say you're welcome to you. I married Kairi out of selfishness because I love her and wanted her to be mine, and only mine. It would be wrong for me to claim that I was acting selflessly, though I know it made her happy too."

Not expecting such a long and detailed answer, the king parted his lips; unsure of what to say. He was however saved by a servant dashing towards us. "It's happening!" He exclaimed as he came into closer view, "Princess Kairi is having her baby!"

Both the King and I looked back towards each other before hurrying off to the castle. Hearing a baby's cries and screams echo through the hallway, I had to smile. Though the thoughts of the following nights without sleep to come and the sound of the cries were dreadful, I could not have been any happier in my life.

Entering the room, the loud crying noises subdued to small whimpers. "Kairi…" I kissed her forehead before turning my attention to the bundle of blankets, sapphire eyes peeping out.

"A boy," She gave an exhausted sigh with a wide smile upon her face. Reaching a hand towards his head, I was surprised as I felt five small fingers grasp around one of my own as a rush of emotion ran through my body. It was strange how you could love something so much and only have just made eye contact for the first time.

"A name?" I asked as I stared in admiration as I received a curious look back from the baby.

Eyes closed, Kairi replied, "I figured I'd leave that pleasure for someone else."

Taking a look back to both of her parents, they shook their heads in protest. Turning back and biting my lip in thought, I stared at my new son and racked my brain for a suitable name. "Ven," I concluded, ignoring the fact that he was now sucking on the finger he had claimed, "for wind. Incase he becomes a great swordsman, more of like Riku than myself."

Everyone in the room gave a laugh from the statement; Ven giving a stare before attempting to smile himself, causing Kairi and I to laugh again. Giving another look to all of us, he closed his eyes; my finger now out of his mouth but still lingering against his face, I commented, "At least we'll be able to sleep _tonight_."

"I doubt he'll stay asleep. I, however, could sleep through about anything right about now. So have fun tonight trying to coax Ven back to sleep later, because I will be _out_."

Chuckling, I answered quietly, "Alright." Kairi indeed kept her promise; when Ven awoke in the middle of the night screaming out his lungs, she did not even flinch while the rest of the castle was easily awakened at once.

And so the pattern continued over the next few months, though Kairi eventually had to join the night party. Aside from the loss of an hour or two of sleep every night, everything seemed to be perfect. That is, until winter arrived. Many people began to catch all sorts of sicknesses, Kairi getting the worst of it. It was heart wrenching to watch her strength and consciousness slip away a little more each day and not being able to do anything to help her. She even seemed to be getting well again for a small time, but relapsed.

Grasping her hand and watching the small heave of her body as she inhaled and exhaled as much as she could, I raised her hand to my face and nudged against it as I sighed, "Kairi…"Even Ven could tell there was something wrong with her; frowning and making quiet whimpers whenever he spotted his mother. So I left him in the care of Selphie while I snuck in a quick visit to my wife.

Returning her hand under the covers and leaning over her to kiss her forehead, I murmured with a forced smile, "Keep fighting." My words somehow managing to seep into her subconscious, Kairi's lip twitched upward into a smile. Heart fluttering in accomplishment and my mood now flip-flopped, I announced for possibly the thousandth time in my life, "I love you, Kairi."

I felt a little pang of disappointment when she remained unresponsive, but overall I was jubilant in her progress. "I've got to go now, but I'll return later; I promise." I gave a last stroke of her crimson hair before exiting the room.

That was the last time I ever saw Kairi alive. I woke up the next morning and walked about the castle to be surrounded by sorrowful faces. Asking what was wrong, no one gave a reply and caused my heart to stop within my chest.

Bolting into the room, I let out an inaudible, "_No_." as I found her bed surrounded by her weeping parents and servants. Shoving past the encirclement of people, I desperately clung both of my hands around one of her own; it being cold and stiff. Tears brimming my eyes and beginning to spill over, I cried out, "_Kairi_!" As if that could possibly awake her from her eternal slumber.

All along we had been dancing the waltz of the damned, and we knew it; we were just too blinded by love to admit that it was going to catch up to us one day.


End file.
